Written question asked by Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party) on Wednesday, 29 October 2014, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 12 November 2014. It was answered by Lord Bates (Conservative) on Thursday, 20 November 2014 on behalf of the Home Office.
Immigration Controls: Northern Ireland
- Question
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To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they plan to take to ensure that persons preparing to enter Northern Ireland from another country, and who intend to remain for any length of time, are required to declare previous criminal convictions and sentences in their native, or any other, countries, and that such declarations are cross-checked with those countries before entry to Northern Ireland is approved.
- Answer
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Those requiring entry clearance are already required to declare any criminal convictions as a part of the application process. Where an applicant has been convicted and received a prison sentence, this may lead to a mandatory refusal of entry clearance to the UK.
Her Majesty's Government is focused on improving our access to overseas criminality information and participates in several key EU information exchange mechanisms such as the European Criminal Records System (ECRIS) which has increased this capability, enabling us to remove and prevent the re-entry of EU offenders. The UK is also scheduled to join the Schengen Information System (SIS II) at the end of this year which will further strengthen our borders. ECRIS and SIS II are included in the package of 35 EU justice and home affairs measures that the Government is seeking to remain party to after 1 December, under Protocol 36 of the Treaty of Lisbon.
We are also leading efforts within the EU to share data on serious offenders, and have signed a number of Information Sharing Agreements with international partners to increase the availability and speed of criminal records exchange.
Secondary information
- Type
- Written question
- Reference
- HL2506
- Session
- 2014-15
- Related items
- Subjects
- Criminal records Immigration controls Offenders Northern Ireland
- Link
- View this Written question on www.parliament.uk
Librarians' tools
- Timestamp
- 2022-11-07 11:59:17 +0000
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- http://data.parliament.uk/writtenparliamentaryquestion/lords/2014-15/HL2506
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