Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to indefinite leave to remain decisions, what assessment she has made of the effect of the suspension of the priority and super priority services on the ability of international students to start university courses in September 2020.
Answered by Kevin Foster
International students travelling to the UK to commence courses in the Autumn semester are not considered under the indefinite leave to remain route.
We continually review our global visa operation to improve performance and ensure value for money while maintaining excellent customer service.
We have not yet re-introduced Super Priority and Priority visa services, but are keeping the position under constant review as more of our visa application centres reopen. The decision to reopen visa application centres is taken in conjunction with our commercial partners and is subject to the easing of restrictions in locations by host Governments. As centres reopen details of these will be published on our commercial partner websites.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to respond to Questions 7123 and 7124 on Immigration: EU Nationals, tabled on 23 January 2020 by the hon. Member for Arfon.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The responses for UIN 7123 and 7124 were given on 24th June 2020.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will increase the number of scanning centres in Wales to improve access for EU27 citizens applying for settled status through the EU Settlement Scheme.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The latest published information shows more than 3.6 million EU Settlement Scheme applications had been received up to 31 May 2020. Of these, 59,400 applications had been received in Wales. The latest figures can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/eu-settlement-scheme-statistics.
In order to ensure resident EEA and Swiss nationals, and their family members, understand how and by when to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme, the Home Office has put in place a comprehensive communications and engagement plan, using all available channels to reach our audiences – such as marketing, presentations, email updates, toolkits and webinars.
The Home Office has delivered a £4 million marketing campaign to encourage resident EEA and Swiss nationals to apply. During the first burst of campaign activity billboards were placed in 186 locations in Wales with 50% of these posters in Welsh and 50% in English.
No-one will be left behind, which is why we are working in partnership with representatives of vulnerable groups and other expert organisations to make sure the right level of support is available. This includes £9 million of funding awarded last year to 57 voluntary and community sector organisations across the UK to assist vulnerable and at-risk EEA and Swiss citizens and their family members. Five organisations are providing support for EEA and Swiss citizens in Wales: Newport Mind Association, Tros Gynnal Plant, International Organisation for Migration, Royal Association for Deaf People, and Rights of Women.
There are multiple ways applicants can have their identity documents checked as part of the application process, including using the EU Exit: ID Document Check smartphone app or by posting identity documents to the Home Office.
The identity document scanner locations are currently closed due to the COVID pandemic, following the latest public health guidance to protect staff. However, the Home Office and its delivery partners are keeping this situation under constant review and will endeavour to reinstate identity document scanner locations to their original capacity in line with public health guidance.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to increase the proportion of EU27 citizens in Wales who apply for settled status.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The latest published information shows more than 3.6 million EU Settlement Scheme applications had been received up to 31 May 2020. Of these, 59,400 applications had been received in Wales. The latest figures can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/eu-settlement-scheme-statistics.
In order to ensure resident EEA and Swiss nationals, and their family members, understand how and by when to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme, the Home Office has put in place a comprehensive communications and engagement plan, using all available channels to reach our audiences – such as marketing, presentations, email updates, toolkits and webinars.
The Home Office has delivered a £4 million marketing campaign to encourage resident EEA and Swiss nationals to apply. During the first burst of campaign activity billboards were placed in 186 locations in Wales with 50% of these posters in Welsh and 50% in English.
No-one will be left behind, which is why we are working in partnership with representatives of vulnerable groups and other expert organisations to make sure the right level of support is available. This includes £9 million of funding awarded last year to 57 voluntary and community sector organisations across the UK to assist vulnerable and at-risk EEA and Swiss citizens and their family members. Five organisations are providing support for EEA and Swiss citizens in Wales: Newport Mind Association, Tros Gynnal Plant, International Organisation for Migration, Royal Association for Deaf People, and Rights of Women.
There are multiple ways applicants can have their identity documents checked as part of the application process, including using the EU Exit: ID Document Check smartphone app or by posting identity documents to the Home Office.
The identity document scanner locations are currently closed due to the COVID pandemic, following the latest public health guidance to protect staff. However, the Home Office and its delivery partners are keeping this situation under constant review and will endeavour to reinstate identity document scanner locations to their original capacity in line with public health guidance.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason time when employees are furloughed does not count towards the 12 month period for the purposes of Tier 1 entrepreneur visa despite employees being considered as employed during furlough; and if she will take steps to change that policy and ensure that the period of furlough does count towards meeting the conditions of the visa.
Answered by Kevin Foster
To extend leave or apply for settlement, Tier 1 Entrepreneurs must demonstrate they are undertaking ongoing business activity. The Covid-19 pandemic has caused disruption to many businesses and in light of this a number of Tier 1 Entrepreneur requirements have been relaxed to make sure applicants are able to remain in the UK.
Ordinarily, applicants must show they have created jobs for at least two people for 12 consecutive months. They will be allowed to include non-consecutive periods, as well as amalgamate multiple jobs to make the equivalent of two full time employees. For those applicants who are still unable to meet these requirements before the expiry of their visa, the Government will allow more time to qualify via temporary extensions of leave.
The Government continue to keep policies under review to ensure individuals, including those on a Tier 1 Entrepreneur visa, do not suffer any detriment as a result of this pandemic.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if the Government will waive the requirement for applicants for Indefinite Leave to Remain not to have spent more than 90 days outside the UK in circumstances where applicants are unable to return to the UK due to travel restrictions during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Individuals who hold leave in categories including Tier 2, Start-up and Global Talent are allowed a maximum of 180 days absence from the UK without breaking their continuous residence. However, the published guidance confirms that applicants may exceed the 180 days in the event of serious or compelling circumstances. This would include travel disruption caused by the covid-19 pandemic.
A full list of categories covered by this exemption is available at www.gov.uk/government/publications/indefinite-leave-to-remain-calculating-continuous-period-in-uk
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) extending the deadline for applications to the EU Settlement Scheme beyond 30 June 2021 and (b) making the EU settlement scheme an automatic registration system in response to additional pressures on the Civil Service resulting from the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Kevin Foster
There are no plans to extend the deadline for applications to the EU Settlement Scheme or to replace it with an automatic registration system. There is still over a year before the deadline of 30 June 2021 and the latest published statistics, to 31 March 2020, show the scheme is performing well, with more than 3.4 million applications having been received and over 3.1 million concluded. The Home Office has continued to receive and process applications throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.
EU citizens can apply online, free of charge, simply by completing three key steps: proving their identity, showing they live in the UK and declaring any criminal convictions. There is support available online, by email and by telephone from our assisted digital provider.
Where a person eligible for leave under the scheme has reasonable grounds for missing the application deadline, they will be given a further opportunity to apply. Our compassionate and flexible approach will ensure that individuals who miss the deadline through no fault of their own can still obtain lawful status in the UK. We will publish clear guidance for caseworkers in due course to ensure consistency of approach.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 24 February 2020 to Question 1876, on Extradition: Offenders, what discussions (a) officials and (b) Ministers in her Department have had with their (i) Austrian, (ii) German and (iii) Slovenian counterparts on the extradition of criminals during the transition period.
Answered by James Brokenshire
Home Office officials and Ministers regularly engage with their international counterparts in EU Member States on security cooperation. Engagement also takes place between the law enforcement agencies and prosecution services responsible for the execution of individual warrants, including with Austria, Germany and Slovenia where appropriate.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the (a) European Commission and (b) her (i) Austrian, (ii) German and (iii) Slovenian counterparts on the extradition of criminals during the transition period.
Answered by James Brokenshire
Home Office officials and Ministers regularly engage with their international counterparts in EU Member States on security cooperation. As the UK has left the European Union, these policy discussions take place via bilateral rather than EU channels.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many immigration cases have taken longer than (a) six months and (b) one year to be resolved in each of the last five years.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Information on our immigration routes with service standards and whether they have been processed against these standards is available as part of our transparency data, at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data#uk-visas-and-immigration