Written question asked by Rachael Maskell (Independent (affiliation)) on Thursday, 10 July 2025, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 14 July 2025. It was answered by Seema Malhotra (Labour) on Friday, 18 July 2025 on behalf of the Home Office.

Visas: Palestinians

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has had recent discussions with the Foreign Secretary on taking steps to help support Palestinians to access locations to verify their biometric data for UK visa applications.

Answer: There are currently two UK Visa Application Centres operating in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, in Ramallah and Jerusalem. The centres in Ramallah and Jerusalem are open twice per week and once every two weeks respectively for biometrics enrolment. The UK Visa Application Centre in Gaza has been closed since 7 October 2023 due to the conflict in the region and to ensure the safety of staff and customers. UKVI will continue to monitor the situation and work closely with the supplier, VFS, to re-open this centre when it becomes safe to do so. There are also Visa Application Centres in neighbouring countries, such as Egypt and Jordan, which are open daily if customers are able to travel to these locations.

Secondary information