Asked by: Roger Gale (Conservative - North Thanet)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, If he will discuss with his Turkish counterpart the resolution of persons missing following the invasion of Cyprus in 1974 and the role that Turkey could play in providing access to military sites for exhumation and the release of information from military archives.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The UK maintains close contact with the Committee on Missing Persons which is mandated to search for, recover, identify and return to their families the remains of Cypriots from both communities. In July, the UK ensured language was included in the renewal of the mandate for the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus calling on all parties to enhance their cooperation with the Committee on Missing Persons, explicitly through providing full access without delay to all areas and responding in a timely manner to requests for archival information on possible burial sites.
Asked by: Roger Gale (Conservative - North Thanet)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to reach a reciprocal agreement with the United States to ensure that UK citizens in that country whose visas have expired or are about to expire are granted the same concessions as those enjoyed, for the duration of the covid-19 pandemic, by US citizens visiting the UK.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The UK is in regular contact at the highest levels with our US partners on our joint response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, including discussions on how to enable travelling nationals to return home where necessary.
For UK citizens in the US on non-immigration visas, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) are accepting timely extension of stay (EOS) or change in status (COS) applications. The granting of either status will allow UK citizens whose visas have expired to lawfully remain in the US for an agreed period of time. More information can be found on the USCIS website.
UK citizens currently in the US on an Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA) visa are able to apply for Satisfactory Departure from the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP). This discretionary authority permits USCIS and CBP to extend an ESTA admission for a period not to exceed 30 days.
Asked by: Roger Gale (Conservative - North Thanet)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reciprocal arrangements the Government has made with the US Administration to extend the length of visas for UK and US citizens currently in either country whose visas are due to expire and who are unable to return home because of the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The UK is in regular contact at the highest levels with our US partners on our joint response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, including discussions on how to enable travelling nationals to return home where necessary. It is up to individual countries how they manage their response to the virus, including immigration policy.
British travellers currently in the USA will be allowed to leave to return home. British travellers who entered the USA on an Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA) visa and are concerned that their period of admission is about to expire are able to apply for Satisfactory Departure from the US Customs and Border Protection. This discretionary authority permits US Citizenship and Immigration Services and US Customs and Border Protection to extend an ESTA admission for a period not to exceed 30 days.
Most US citizens in the UK can stay for up to 6 months without a visa. If US citizen's visa is expiring and they cannot leave the UK at present because of travel restrictions or self-isolation related to COVID-19, they are able to request an extension from the Home Office's Coronavirus Immigration Team (CIT) and their visa will be extended to 31 May 2020.