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Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Answer

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 30 March 2001, Official Report, column 797W, on entry clearance, by what means waiting times were reduced; what change in entry denial rates routes occurred; and if he will make a statement. [158334] Mr. Vaz: Waiting times for interview in Islamabad were reduced by the posting of additional staff; by the appointment of a new management team; by a reduction in the amount of documentation required from applicants; by the implementation of new procedures recommended by external and internal review teams; and by hard work by the staff at Post. I am very pleased with the efforts made by the staff. The improvement in waiting times is shown in the following table. _________________________________________________________________________________________________. December 1999 December 2000 March 2001 Visit Visas Tier 3 5 days 40 days {1}0 Settlement Visas Q1 9 weeks 5 weeks 5 weeks Q2 39 weeks 18.5 weeks 13 weeks Q3 44 weeks 24 weeks 16 weeks Q4 50 weeks 31 weeks 23 weeks _________________________________________________________________________________________________. {1} Same day service Notes: Tier 3--Visit visa applications requiring in-depth interview (target: 10 days) Queue 1--Right of abode cases and Dependant Relatives over 65 (target: 13 weeks) Queue 2--Spouses and Children under 18 (target: 13 weeks) Queue 3--Fiance(e)s and Other First Time Applicants (target: 26 weeks) Queue 4--Re-applicants (target: 39 weeks) Refusal rates in Islamabad, as a percentage of the total number of non-settlement and settlement applications received, have been as follows: Percentage _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Non-settlement Settlement 1998 15 16 1999 21.4 25.5 2000 11 20.6 _________________________________________________________________________________________________.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

158334; 367 c420-1W

Session

2000-01

Subjects

Applications Administrative delays Entry clearances Visas

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk