Written question asked by Tony Lloyd (Labour) on Thursday, 16 May 2002, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 23 May 2002. It was answered by Ben Bradshaw (Labour) on Thursday, 23 May 2002 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the waiting time is for the spouse of a British National applying for a settlement visa in the UK from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. - Inc figures.

Answer: Mr. Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the waiting time is for the spouse of a British national applying for a settlement visa in the UK from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. [57974] Mr. Bradshaw: We have a Public Service Agreement with the Treasury that we conduct 90 per cent. of settlement interviews within a target time of 12 weeks. However, in practice applicants who apply to our visa section in Kinshasa on a Monday morning are usually interviewed on Tuesday and Wednesday; those who apply on a Wednesday morning, when the visa section opens again, are interviewed on Thursday, or the following Monday. The section would therefore expect to interview the spouse of a British national applying for settlement within three working days. Normally, a decision on the application would immediately follow this interview.

Secondary information