Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of Albanian nationals who have applied for (a) asylum, (b) refugee status and (c) protection under modern slavery legislation have been granted leave to remain in the UK by gender in each of the last five years.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on initial decisions of all asylum applications raised in a period by nationality can be found in table Asy_D04 of the ‘asylum and resettlement detailed datasets’. A breakdown by gender is not available. People who successfully apply for asylum are granted refugee status or other leave.
Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. the latest available data is for 2021, and data are accurate as of June 2022. Data for 2022 will be published in August 2023. Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.
The Home Office does not publish data on referrals to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) for potential victims of modern slavery that have been granted leave to remain in the UK.
Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, as well as quality and availability of data.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she will take steps to enable EU and EEA nationals and residents under 18 to travel to the UK with their ID card using a group travel document.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Following the France-UK summit on 10 March 2023, the UK committed to ease the travel of school groups to the UK by making changes to documentary requirements for schoolchildren on organised trips from France. Further details will be announced in due course.
This agreement is with France and will help to strengthen and maintain educational and cultural links with our closest continental neighbour. In relation to requests for similar agreements with other European neighbours, we will keep the position under review and ensure that we continue to operate our border in the UK’s best interests.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2023 to Question 157620 on Marriage Fraud, how many individuals have been reported for fraudulent marriage to a foreign citizen by email and post; how many times this has led to her Department cancelling a right to remain; and how many of these individuals have been removed from the UK.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Whilst Home Office Immigration Enforcement publishes information relating to the number of allegations it receives each quarter, allegations relating specifically to fraudulent marriage are not reported upon separately and it is not possible to provide information relating to the number of these allegations received.
The Home Office do not record where information detailing relationship breakdowns are sent from, nor do they record the reason for the relationship failure.
The specific information requested relating to returns is not available in our published data. Our published data on returns is available at the following link:
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has provided guidance to people reporting that they are victims of trafficking or modern slavery of the potential impact on them of Clause 2(3) of the Illegal Migration Bill.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The UK government remains committed to tackling the heinous crime of modern slavery and supporting victims.
The Illegal Migration Bill will crack down on the opportunities to abuse modern slavery protections, by preventing people who come to the UK through illegal and dangerous journeys from misusing modern slavery safeguards to block their removal.
We are working on developing guidance regarding the operation of these measures, including any potential impacts and how they relate to victims of Modern Slavery, to be introduced when it is appropriate to do so once the Illegal Migration Bill has progressed through Parliament.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people arrived in the UK from Albania in the last 12 months for which figures are available; and how many people were returned to Albania in that period.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office publishes data on entry clearance visas in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on visas granted to Albanian nationals are published in table Vis_D02 of the ‘Entry clearance visa applications and outcomes’ detailed datasets.
Data on irregular arrivals are published in the ‘Irregular Migration to the UK release’. Data on detected irregular arrivals of Albanian nationals are published in table Irr_D01 of the ‘Irregular Migration to the UK detailed datasets’.
Please note that the published Home Office entry clearance visa statistics show the number of visa applications and outcomes, but this may not necessarily equal the total number of individuals arriving in the UK on visas (for example, some visas may be unused, or some individuals may apply for more than one visa in a given period). The data also shows visas for Albanian nationals, but does not show if they have applied from Albania.
Data on returns are published in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on returns by destination are published in table Ret_D02 of the ‘Returns detailed datasets’.
Further information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbooks. The latest data relates to the end of December 2022, except for Returns which are to the end of September 2022.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will waive the requirement for an English language test for refugees from Afghanistan who are in Pakistan seeking to join their spouse in the UK and who are unable to register for such tests because they lack immigration status in Pakistan.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Government believes those seeking to enter and make a permanent home in the UK should be equipped to integrate successfully in UK society, with an appropriate level of English and an understanding of British life.
There are no plans to waive the requirement for family members from Afghanistan to pass an English language test to enter the UK.
However, under the Immigration Rules an applicant can already be exempted from the English language requirement to enter the UK if a decision maker considers there are exceptional circumstances preventing the applicant from meeting the requirement.
The applicant must demonstrate, as a result of these circumstances, they are unable to learn English before coming to the UK, or it is not practicable or reasonable for them to travel to another country to take an approved English language test.
Each application for an exemption on the basis of exceptional circumstances will be considered on its merits on a case-by-case basis.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, to which part of her Department people who believe their marriage to a foreign citizen is fraudulent should report this information.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Where a relationship has broken down, the UK sponsor of the relationship can report this to the Home Office on GOV.UK at the following address:
Visas when you separate or divorce: Tell the Home Office - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Each referral to the Home Office will be considered on an individual basis and a decision will be taken as to whether it is appropriate to cancel the former partner’s permission to stay in the UK.
Where a migrant has no remaining leave or if the sponsor wishes to report that they believe they have been a victim of a sham or fraudulent marriage, a report can be made at the following address:
Report an immigration or border crime - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has plans to increase the 20-hour-a-week limit on work for Tier 4 students.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Student visa holders who are studying a full-time course of study, at degree level or above, at a higher education provider with a track record of compliance are already able to work up to 20 hours per week during term-time and full-time during vacation periods.
There are currently no plans to increase the number of hours international students on the Student route can work. The Student route is for international students who wish to study in the UK and is not designed as a means to live and work in the UK.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish a list of the circumstances in which a person is required by law to produce or show their birth certificate.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The requested information is not centrally held by the Home Office.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data her Department holds on the number of asylum seeker children who were in Home Office-procured hotels in Sussex have disappeared without notifying anyone in the past 12 months.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
We take the welfare of those in our care extremely seriously. We have robust safeguarding procedures in place to ensure all unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) in emergency interim hotels are safe and supported whilst we seek urgent placements with a local authority. Young people are supported by team leaders and support workers who are on site 24 hours a day. Further care is provided in hotels by teams of specialist social workers and nurses.
The Home Office has no power to hold asylum seekers, including children, in hotels or any temporary accommodation if they wish to leave. All Home Office staff and contractors engaging with asylum seekers are trained to adopt a risk-based approach towards potential indications of vulnerability and to refer relevant cases onto the Safeguarding Hub, a dedicated resource assigned to identifying and safeguarding vulnerable asylum seekers.
We have a central record of young people who have gone missing from UASC hotels and so have the details of these specific young people and the details of their missing incident. When any child goes missing, a multi-agency, missing persons protocol is mobilised, and many of those who have gone missing are subsequently traced and located. The Home Office is also notified about any asylum-seeking children who went missing from adult/family hotels by the accommodation provider and therefore we would have the data regarding them, which is recorded on their individual records rather than centrally.