Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether EU students with pre-settled status who are isolating themselves in other EU countries as a result of covid-19 and who are continuing their UK education will be exempted from the continuous residence requirement of no more than six months outside of the UK every 12 months when applying for settled status in the future.
Answered by Kevin Foster
In line with the Citizens’ Rights Agreements, the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020 remains the point by which EU citizens need to be resident in the UK to be eligible in their own right for the EU Settlement Scheme.
Where a person with pre-settled status under the scheme is absent from the UK for an important reason, such as serious illness, for a single period of up to 12 months, they can still maintain the continuity of UK residence required for settled status.
Further guidance for applicants to the scheme who have been affected by illness or travel restrictions due to Covid-19 will be published shortly.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether EU students who started their UK degree before 31 December 2020 but who have been unable to enter the UK as a result of covid-19-related travel restrictions and isolation requirements will be able to qualify for the EU Settlement Scheme.
Answered by Kevin Foster
In line with the Citizens’ Rights Agreements, the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020 remains the point by which EU citizens need to be resident in the UK to be eligible in their own right for the EU Settlement Scheme.
Where a person with pre-settled status under the scheme is absent from the UK for an important reason, such as serious illness, for a single period of up to 12 months, they can still maintain the continuity of UK residence required for settled status.
Further guidance for applicants to the scheme who have been affected by illness or travel restrictions due to Covid-19 will be published shortly.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of online remote asylum interviews.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office takes the wellbeing of asylum seekers extremely seriously and has already put in place a range of measures to support asylum applicants affected by the covid-19 outbreak.
However, it is crucial to our applicants that we restart processing their applications for protection as soon as it is safe to do so. The Home Office has successfully used video technology to support remote interviewing for more than 2 years and has appropriate operating procedures that are designed to ensure participants are able to give the best account of their circumstances.
To keep people safe but allow the Home Office to gather the additional information needed to make a decision on their claim for protection, Asylum Operations have secured additional mobile digital and video interviewing kit that enables more applicants to be interviewed remotely.
The Home Office has been clear that it would not restart interviews until it is safe to do so. We are now in a position where we can ensure safe social distancing and have started to issue interview invitations with an expectation that interviews volumes will increase over the coming weeks, including those taking place face to face.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many valid British National (Overseas) passports were in issue on the last calendar day of each month since January 2019.
Answered by Kevin Foster
We are unable to provide data on the volume of British National (Overseas) passports in circulation (valid) on a monthly basis since January 2019 as this data could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the implications for cumulative impact zones of the temporary licensing provisions in the Business and Planning Bill automatically to enable any premises with a licence to sell alcohol also to sell off-sales.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The purpose of the temporary licensing provisions in the Business and Planning Bill is to support licensed premises in re-opening after the covid-19 lockdown. In the light of this, the Government considers it inappropriate to exclude premises located in cumulative impact zones.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the merits of allowing Tier 4 applications from international students to be processed without biometrics for students in countries where visa centres remain closed.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Students, like other visa applicants, are required to attend a visa application centre (VAC) to provide documents and enrol their biometrics, this is a minimum mandated security requirement for all visa national travellers to the UK.
Biometrics play a significant role in delivering security and facilitation in the border and immigration system. They enable quick and robust identity assurance and suitability checks on foreign nationals subject to immigration control.
As restrictions continue to be lifted by governments, overseas VACs are reopening, enabling students to apply for the required visa to study in the UK.? As centres reopen, details of these will be published on our commercial partner websites. As of 29th June, 113 visa application centres have reopened.
UKVI operations and the Education sector are working closely to ensure student applications are not impacted by earlier closures as a result of Covid-19.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when asylum seeker interviews that have been put on hold in response to the covid-19 outbreak will restart.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Asylum Operations have secured a digital solution that can support remote interviewing and are working with delivery partners to enable the use of this technology. Asylum Ops remain committed to restarting substantive asylum interviews as soon as they can establish a process that allows the participants - applicants, representatives, interpreters and interviewers - to do so safely.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions the Government has had with the European Commission on the volume of child sexual abuse images and videos hosted in Europe.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
HMG engages regularly with international partners on the vital issue of initiatives to tackle child sexual exploitation and abuse.
For example, the Home Office is a permanent board member of the WePROTECT Global Alliance against online child sexual exploitation, alongside the European Commission, enabling us to promote our child sexual exploitation and abuse objectives and priorities in this forum. In addition, the UK, whilst we were an EU Member State, supported, and discussed with Member States and the Commission, the inclusion of provisions in draft EU legislation (the e-Privacy Regulation) to permit the continued protection of children online.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to extend the application window for Tier 4 visas from three to six months, in order for international students beginning their courses online to know that they will be eligible for a visa to enter the UK before they begin studying.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Students are currently permitted to apply up to three months in advance of the course start date listed on the Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS). Students commencing a course of study outside the UK, are not required to hold a visa to commence the course. All provisions are being kept under regular review in light of the situation with Covid-19 (Coronavirus).
Visa Application Centres (VAC) are starting to re-open which will enable students to submit their applications and enrol biometrics.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether international students who have to start their courses online as a result of the covid-19 outbreak will be eligible for the Graduate Route visa despite spending less time than is required physically in the UK under the terms of that visa.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Graduate route will be introduced in the summer of 2021. We have been clear no migrant will be penalised due to circumstances outside their control related to Covid-19, including where they have had to start their courses online as a result.