Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reasons a UK citizen living in the UK is charged a fee for the citizenship applications process to bring their non-UK citizen spouse to the UK and a EU citizen living in the UK is able to bring their spouse to the UK through the settled status scheme.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Immigration Act 2014 gives the Home Office statutory powers to set fees for applications for entry or residence documentation issued under our domestic Immigration Rules and fees currently charged to non-EU citizens, including the dependants of British citizens, take into account wider factors within primary legislation.
At the end of the transition period, we will introduce a new fairer immigration system. This new points-based immigration system, to be implemented from 1 January 2021, will focus on the skills migrants possess and the contribution they can make to the UK, not where their passport comes from. Our intention is to align the immigration arrangements for newly arriving EU citizens with those for migrants from the rest of the world, including in respect of family reunion. Further details of the new system will be set out in due course.
The EU Settlement Scheme reflects our obligations under the Withdrawal Agreement with the EU in relation to EU citizens resident in the UK by the end of the transition period and their family members. British nationals living in the UK are not exercising free movement rights and therefore need to sponsor family members under the UK’s immigration rules.
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many immigrants who have crossed the English Channel illegally since 1 January 2018 remain in the UK.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
Details on the number of people who have crossed the Channel in small boats between January 2018 and June 2020 was published, via a letter from the Home Secretary to the Home Affairs Select Committee, in September 2020. The information is available at:https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/2333/documents/22962/default/
We remain committed to removing those with no right to be in the UK, and who do not comply with our immigration laws.
The Home Office continues to work closely with EU Member State partners to enact transfers as soon as possible and ahead of the six-month timeframe for a return.
The Home Office publishes data on the number of asylum seekers transferred under the Dublin regulation in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release
Data on the number of asylum seekers transferred out of the UK under the Dublin Regulation, broken down by the EU member state they have been transferred to are published in tables Dub_D01 of the asylum and resettlement detailed datasets. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/asylum-and-resettlement-datasets
Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates to the year ending December 2019.
Additionally, the Home Office publishes a high-level overview of the data in the ‘summary tables’. The ‘contents’ sheet contains an overview of all available data on asylum and resettlement.
Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar https://www.gov.uk/search/research-and-statistics?keywords=immigration&content_store_document_type=upcoming_statistics&organisations%5B%5D=home-office&order=relevance
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether immigrants entering the UK via crossing the English Channel illegally are being tested for covid-19 upon arrival.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
We continue to work in line with Public Health England guidance; people arriving by small boats are not specifically tested for coronavirus but are assessed upon arrival for any medical needs and are monitored for symptoms. If symptomatic, individuals will be referred for testing and treatment if appropriate.
All people arriving by small boat are required to self-isolate for a period of 14 days.
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many immigrants who crossed the English Channel illegally have been returned to their home countries since 1 January 2018.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
We remain committed to removing those with no right to be in the UK, and who do not comply with our immigration laws.
The Home Office continues to work closely with EU Member State partners to enact transfers as soon as possible and ahead of the six-month timeframe for a return.
There are a number of factors that have affected returns, including the inflexibility of Dublin Regulations and last-minute legal challenges from activist lawyers, alongside practical and logistical difficulties as a result of the pandemic. We are working at pace to reduce the number of older cases in the system and increase the number of removals - and we are in active discussions with countries to make that happen.
The Home Office publishes data on the number of asylum seekers transferred under the Dublin regulation in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on the number of asylum seekers transferred out of the UK under the Dublin Regulation, broken down by the EU member state they have been transferred to are published in tables Dub_D01 of the asylum and resettlement detailed datasets. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates to the year ending December 2019.
Please note, that we do not publish the breakdowns of the nationality of those being transferred under the Dublin Regulation
Additionally, the Home Office publishes a high-level overview of the data in the ‘summary tables’. The ‘contents’ sheet contains an overview of all available data on asylum and resettlement.
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release
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Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that immigrants who cross the English Channel illegally return safely to their home countries.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Home Secretary
We remain committed to removing those with no right to be in the UK, and who do not comply with our immigration laws.
The Home Office continues to work closely with EU Member State partners to enact transfers as soon as possible and ahead of the six-month timeframe for a return.
There are a number of factors that have affected returns, including the inflexibility of Dublin Regulations and last-minute legal challenges from activist lawyers, alongside practical and logistical difficulties as a result of the pandemic. We are working at pace to reduce the number of older cases in the system and increase the number of removals - and we are in active discussions with countries to make that happen.
The Home Office publishes data on the number of asylum seekers transferred under the Dublin regulation in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on the number of asylum seekers transferred out of the UK under the Dublin Regulation, broken down by the EU member state they have been transferred to are published in tables Dub_D01 of the asylum and resettlement detailed datasets. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates to the year ending December 2019.
Please note, that we do not publish the breakdowns of the nationality of those being transferred under the Dublin Regulation
Additionally, the Home Office publishes a high-level overview of the data in the ‘summary tables’. The ‘contents’ sheet contains an overview of all available data on asylum and resettlement.
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release
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