Written question asked by Caroline Lucas (Green Party) on Tuesday, 24 April 2012, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 30 April 2012. It was answered by Damian Green (Conservative) on Monday, 30 April 2012 on behalf of the Home Office.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what proportion of applications for leave to remain as a student under Tier 4 of the Points Based System have been completed in under four weeks from the date biometric data is taken in the latest period for which figures are available; and what the average time has been (a) between initial submission of an application and an applicant's biometric data being taken, (b) between an applicant's biometric data being taken and notification of the final decision and (c) for processing applications fast-tracked on compassionate grounds.

Answer: This information is not held in a format compatible with National Statistics protocols.However, published statistics are available on a quarterly and annual basis, that report on Tier 4 applications received. This publication is available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Science website at:"http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/immigration-asylum-research/immigration-q4-2011"In addition, data relating to the number of decisions made within service standards for financial year 2010-11 and the first two quarters of 2011-12, is available from the UK Border Agency website at:"http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/aboutus/percentage-of-migration"

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 105986; 543 c1086-7W
Session: 2010-12
Related items: Overseas Students: Entry Clearances
Thursday, 13 September 2012
Written questions
House of Commons
Subjects: Overseas students Visas
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk