The Foreign Secretary sent a congratulatory message to the new Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka in December 2022. Our High Commissioner and his team in Suva have ongoing discussions with the Government of Fiji spanning our cooperation on tackling climate change, supporting trade between the UK and Fiji, renewable energy and supporting the 1500 Fijian soldiers serving in the British Armed Forces. We welcome Fiji's support in the UN General Assembly on our shared interests including speaking out against Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine. As a fellow maritime island nation, we work closely with Fiji to tackle Illegal, Unregulated and Unauthorised Fishing in the Pacific, and Royal Navy Offshore Patrol Vessel HMS SPEY conducted joint exercising and cooperation with their Fiji Navy counterparts twice last year.

The point is that it is all about fairness, and we must not disadvantage any comparable British soldier in the same circumstances, so currently there are no plans to extend that measure to family members.

A couple of months ago I was delighted to spend an evening with some Fijian veterans, and a good fun evening was had by all. I was able to express to them my personal thanks for their services to the British armed forces. I recognise the progress that has been made on visa fees for Fijian veterans, but will the Minister look at cancelling the costs of visas for Fijian servicemen and women’s spouses as well?

Applications for settlement from non-UK HM Armed Forces veterans under Appendix Armed Forces are made online. Applicants outside of the UK can choose, in the online form, any Visa Application Centre to attend and complete the application process. There is no requirement to pay an immigration health surcharge in a settlement application. This is also the case for those who qualify for the settlement fee waiver policy which came into effect on 6 April.

To avoid creating a separate, bespoke application form, the existing settlement application forms have been updated with questions to identify those who qualify for the settlement fee waiver.

Non-UK HM Armed Forces veterans who apply for settlement by themselves, whether inside or outside the UK, are not required to meet criteria on a minimum income requirement, sponsorship, or proof of accommodation.

Commonwealth Service personnel, including Fijian nationals, who meet Home Office criteria can make an application for British citizenship while serving. However, this is an individual choice as it can have personal implications in some countries.

Commonwealth and Gurkha personnel can also choose to make an application to settle in the UK on their discharge from the UK Armed Forces after at least four years' service or following their discharge for medical reasons associated with their service.

We recognise that the fees for such applications place a financial burden on Service personnel who wish to remain in the UK after service and the Defence Secretary has met with the Home Secretary to consider how we could offer greater flexibility in future. We will launch a public consultation on this matter imminently.

I refer my Hon. Friend for Eddisbury to the answer I gave her on 7 November 2018, UIN: 185693.

To be eligible to join the British Armed Forces an individual must be a British, Irish or Commonwealth citizen, either as a sole or dual national. As Fiji is a member of the Commonwealth, its citizens are eligible to apply to join. There is no recruitment process specifically for Fijian nationals. All British, Irish and Commonwealth nationals are required to make an online application and, if successful, will then go through the recruitment and selection assessment process in the UK for the Service they are applying to join.

Information held by the Ministry of Defence on the numbers of Regular personnel who reported a Fijian nationality on joining the British Armed Forces in each Financial Year (FY) since 1998-99 is provided in the following table.

Number of Regular personnel reporting a Fijian nationality on intake to the British Armed Forces (FYs 1998-99 to 2017-18)

Notes:

1. Nationality is not part of the Royal Navy/Royal Marines and RAF legacy datasets (data held prior to the introduction of the Joint Personnel Administration System) and as such figures for these Services are included only from 2007-08 for Royal Navy/Royal Marines and 2006-07 for RAF.

2. The declaration rate for nationality on intake for FY 2017-18 is 99.1%. Some personnel will declare their nationality after intake; figures in this table show nationality declared at intake.

3. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10. ‘~’ indicates a number less than 5. ‘-‘ indicates zero.

To be eligible to join the British Armed Forces an individual must be a British, Irish or Commonwealth citizen, either as a sole or dual national. As Fiji is a member of the Commonwealth, its citizens are eligible to apply to join. There is no recruitment process specifically for Fijian nationals. All British, Irish and Commonwealth nationals are required to make an online application and, if successful, will then go through the recruitment and selection assessment process in the UK for the Service they are applying to join.

Information held by the Ministry of Defence on the numbers of Regular personnel who reported a Fijian nationality on joining the British Armed Forces in each Financial Year (FY) since 1998-99 is provided in the following table.

Number of Regular personnel reporting a Fijian nationality on intake to the British Armed Forces (FYs 1998-99 to 2017-18)

Notes:

1. Nationality is not part of the Royal Navy/Royal Marines and RAF legacy datasets (data held prior to the introduction of the Joint Personnel Administration System) and as such figures for these Services are included only from 2007-08 for Royal Navy/Royal Marines and 2006-07 for RAF.

2. The declaration rate for nationality on intake for FY 2017-18 is 99.1%. Some personnel will declare their nationality after intake; figures in this table show nationality declared at intake.

3. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10. ‘~’ indicates a number less than 5. ‘-‘ indicates zero.

The Home Office has no record of any general representations from community representatives or Fijian nationals enlisted as regulars in the British Army or with Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR), having experienced difficulties at the UK border.

We work very closely with the Home Office, and they have specific rules for Commonwealth personnel in relation to their immigration status while serving and their ability to settle in the UK indefinitely.

Under the Immigration Act 1971 Commonwealth Nationals are exempt from immigration control whilst serving as a regular in HM Forces. On request, the Home Office will issue Commonwealth personnel an 'Exempt vignette' to confirm their status. This is issued on enlistment, and is valid for the entirety of their regular service and enables them to come and go from the UK without restriction for the purposes of their duty. A wide range of advice and support is available to Service personnel about their immigration status and they will be sign posted to qualified immigration advisers for help with specific questions and applications.

Service personnel can apply to the Home Office for indefinite leave to remain in the UK up to 10 weeks prior to or, if eligible, within two years of discharge, or indefinite leave to enter the UK within two years of leaving the Services if they have returned to their country of origin. The Home Office determine if they meet the eligibility criteria for settlement.

We work very closely with the Home Office, and they have specific rules for Commonwealth personnel in relation to their immigration status while serving and their ability to settle in the UK indefinitely.

Under the Immigration Act 1971 Commonwealth Nationals are exempt from immigration control whilst serving as a regular in HM Forces. On request, the Home Office will issue Commonwealth personnel an 'Exempt vignette' to confirm their status. This is issued on enlistment, and is valid for the entirety of their regular service and enables them to come and go from the UK without restriction for the purposes of their duty. A wide range of advice and support is available to Service personnel about their immigration status and they will be sign posted to qualified immigration advisers for help with specific questions and applications.

Service personnel can apply to the Home Office for indefinite leave to remain in the UK up to 10 weeks prior to or, if eligible, within two years of discharge, or indefinite leave to enter the UK within two years of leaving the Services if they have returned to their country of origin. The Home Office determine if they meet the eligibility criteria for settlement.

The Republic of Fiji Military Forces received a shipment of small arms, ammunition and mobile repair workshops from Russia in January. The equipment is consistent with that required to support Fiji’s deployments to international peacekeeping operations in Golan, Lebanon, Sinai, and South Sudan.

The Ministry of Defence's humanitarian relief deployments are typically in response to either a request from the Department for International Development or directly from the government affected. The UK did not receive a request for assistance from the Fijian government and so currently has no plans to deploy personnel or assets.

The UK is assisting Fiji in response to Tropical Cyclone Winston. We are contributing technical support to strengthen United Nations Children’s Fund capacity with water, sanitation and hygiene coordination and are ready to consider further requests for humanitarian experts should it be required. DFID has also offered to provide support to the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Co-ordinations team and will remain in contact with Agencies in the region.

The UK is also funding MapAction, a UK-based NGO. Two of their volunteers have now deployed to Fiji to provide GIS and Mapping capability. The UK also makes core contributions to the UN Agencies, the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Department and the Red Cross, all of whom are contributing to the response. Stephen O'Brien, Head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has recently announced US $8 million for Fiji from the Central Emergency Response Fund, to which the UK is biggest contributor, having donated in excess of $855m in the last 10 years.