Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what additional resources her Department is providing to Visa Application Centres throughout the World to help them tackle backlogs that have developed as a result of the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Following initial closures as a result of global Covid-19 restrictions, Visa Application Centres (VACs) overseas and UK Visa and Citizenship Application Service (UKVCAS) centres in the UK have started reopening in a phased way, with social distancing and other public health measures in place which has resulted in reduced appointment capacity.
UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) is continuing to work with our commercial partners to ensure there is sufficient appointment availability so customers waiting for an appointment are able to enrol their biometrics and submit supporting documents safely and quickly.
Customers who have applied since services were suspended are being contacted and offered appointments in a phased way. For customers in the UK, in order to increase capacity and reduce customer contact UKVI will be reusing fingerprint biometrics for some customers who have supplied their fingerprints since July 2015. These customers do not need to attend a UKVCAS or an SSC service point appointment to provide biometric information.
Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to extend the graduate work visa to students who currently hold a Tier 4 Visa.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Graduate route will be launched in the Summer of 2021.
To be eligible for the route, students must successfully complete a degree at undergraduate level or above at a Higher Education Provider with a track record of compliance and hold valid leave as a student when the route is introduced. Students who complete their courses prior to the introduction of the route will not be eligible.
Current Tier 4 students can benefit from the route, if their leave expires after the route is introduced, regardless of when their courses commenced.
Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what consultation the Government has had with EU students in Scotland on the European temporary leave to remain scheme.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The transitional arrangements under European Temporary Leave to Remain will only be required in the event that the UK leaves the EU without securing a deal. The Government has been clear that leaving the EU with a deal remains our top priority.
The Government has regular contact with representatives of the education sector, and the Scottish Government, and will continue to consult with the relevant stakeholders during the course of our 12 month engagement with stakeholders on the UK’s future skills-based immigration system.
As we move towards the future system, the Government will continue to consult with internal stakeholders to ensure that operational capability is given due consideration as we build an immigration system that works for the whole of the UK, including the education sector.
Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the impact assessment on the European temporary leave to remain scheme included an assessment of the effect of that scheme on the differentiated system of academic courses across the UK.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The transitional arrangements under European Temporary Leave to Remain will only be required in the event that the UK leaves the EU without securing a deal. The Government has been clear that leaving the EU with a deal remains our top priority.
The Government has regular contact with representatives of the education sector, and the Scottish Government, and will continue to consult with the relevant stakeholders during the course of our 12 month engagement with stakeholders on the UK’s future skills-based immigration system.
As we move towards the future system, the Government will continue to consult with internal stakeholders to ensure that operational capability is given due consideration as we build an immigration system that works for the whole of the UK, including the education sector.
Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to prepare for a potential increase in applications for Tier 4 visas from students as a result of the European temporary leave to remain scheme.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The transitional arrangements under European Temporary Leave to Remain will only be required in the event that the UK leaves the EU without securing a deal. The Government has been clear that leaving the EU with a deal remains our top priority.
The Government has regular contact with representatives of the education sector, and the Scottish Government, and will continue to consult with the relevant stakeholders during the course of our 12 month engagement with stakeholders on the UK’s future skills-based immigration system.
As we move towards the future system, the Government will continue to consult with internal stakeholders to ensure that operational capability is given due consideration as we build an immigration system that works for the whole of the UK, including the education sector.
Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what consultation she has had with her counterpart in the Scottish Government on the potential increase in applications for Tier 4 visas as a result of the European temporary leave to remain scheme.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The transitional arrangements under European Temporary Leave to Remain will only be required in the event that the UK leaves the EU without securing a deal. The Government has been clear that leaving the EU with a deal remains our top priority.
The Government has regular contact with representatives of the education sector, and the Scottish Government, and will continue to consult with the relevant stakeholders during the course of our 12 month engagement with stakeholders on the UK’s future skills-based immigration system.
As we move towards the future system, the Government will continue to consult with internal stakeholders to ensure that operational capability is given due consideration as we build an immigration system that works for the whole of the UK, including the education sector.
Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the affordability of the Indefinite Leave to Remain application fee.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
An assessment of the impact of all border, immigration and citizenship (BIC) fees was published as an associated document to the Immigration and
Nationality Fees (Regulations) 2018. Whilst the assessment doesn’t focus on affordability, which would be a very subjective matter, it does include estimates of price elasticity.
The relevant information can be found via the following link:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukia/2018/59/pdfs/ukia_20180059_en.pdf
Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reasons a waiver from Indefinite Leave to Remain fees was granted to the 150 Afghan Interpreters who aided the British Army during Operation Herrick.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
In May 2018, the Home Secretary announced that Afghan interpreters, who worked alongside British Forces in Afghanistan, and their family members who relocate to the UK can apply for settlement free of charge after five years’ residence here.
It was never our intention to expect Afghan local staff who relocated to the UK to return to Afghanistan. The changes to the Immigration Rules pro-vide reassurance that they can continue to build their lives and future in the UK. In addition, given the risks that Afghan interpreters faced, includ-ing threats to safety, as a direct result of their work alongside UK forces on the front line, we believe it was appropriate to provide a fee exemption.
Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment his Department made of the variations in national average salaries in advance of setting a £30,000 salary threshold for skilled workers.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
In their report, EEA migration in the UK, the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) recommended “maintaining the existing salary threshold for all migrants in Tier 2”. The Government will engage businesses and employers as to what salary threshold should be set.
In addition, Scotland already has a separate Shortage Occupation List (SOL) and we will invite the Migration Advisory Committee to compile such a list for Northern Ireland and consider whether the composition of the SOL needs to be different for Wales.
Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what occupations would be considered (a) high-skilled, (b) medium-skilled and (c) low-skilled in the context of The UK's future skills-based immigration system White Paper.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
As set out in the White Paper, ‘The UK’s future skills-based immigration system’, we propose to define high, medium and lower skilled occupation by referring to the national Regulated Qualification Framework (RQF) levels. High-skilled roles require skills at degree level or above (RQF 6 and above); medium-skilled require skills between A-Level and Foundation Degree, or equivalent (RQF 3-5) and lower-skilled roles include those at GCSE level or below (below RQF 3).
Occupations falling into each of these skill levels will be set out in codes of practice. The existing codes of practice for our current main immigration work route under Tier 2 can be found at Appendix J of the published immigration rules, available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-j-codes-of-practice-for-skilled-work