Asked by: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress her Department has made in assessing outstanding Turkish Businessperson visas, for applications made in 2020.
Answered by Kevin Foster
We received a significant increase in Turkish ECAA overseas applications before the route closed. Caseworking teams in UKVI continue to process ECAA applications and are focused on resolving them as quickly as possible.
At times, we may identify further information which is required in individual applications and need to contact applicants for this.
Some applications also require additional checks to be undertaken by the Home Office which may cause delays pending these essential checks being undertaken.
Asked by: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the case for and against removing the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam from the list of organisations proscribed under the Terrorism Act 2000.
Answered by Damian Hinds
In October 2020 the Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission allowed the appeal against the Government’s decision to maintain the proscription of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on the basis of a procedural error. The Home Secretary subsequently undertook to reconsider the application for deproscription and, having reconsidered the application, determined that the LTTE should remain proscribed. The Home Secretary wrote to the Chair of the Home Affairs Committee on 31 August 2021 notifying the Chair of her decision. A copy of the Home Secretary’s letter was deposited in the libraries of both Houses of Parliament.
Asked by: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to ensure that people who have been granted Turkish businessperson visas can request a national insurance number without having to provide evidence which has already been provided for their visa application.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The arrangements for processing National Insurance number (NINo) requests are the responsibility of the Department for Work and Pensions. It no longer requires a face-to-face interview as part of the process and will accept the Biometric Residence Permit of Turkish business persons as evidence of self-employment.
It is not mandatory for Turkish business persons to provide a NINo as part of their immigration application and the Home Office will ensure they are not penalised for any previous delays in issuing one.
Asked by: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for Turkish Businessperson visas were (a) submitted, (b) successful and (c) refused in 2020; and how many of those applications are still to be processed.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The Home Office publishes data on ECAA Business Persons in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’.
Data on applications for ECAA Business Persons are published in table Vis_D01 of the entry clearance visas applications and outcomes dataset. Data on the number of ECAA Business Persons issued and refused are included in table Vis_D02. These data may be selected using the ‘ECAA Business person’ visa type subgroup.
Information on how to use the entry clearance visas applications and outcomes dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates to year ending March 2021.
Home Office Migration Statistics do not capture the number of Turkish Businessperson visa applications which are still to be processed.
Asked by: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the requirement for people who have proved their residency rights through the EU Settlement Scheme to do so again when applying for British Citizenship.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The EUSS only looks at physical presence and not lawful residence, and so there may be cases where nationality caseworkers need to satisfy themselves the person was here lawfully, when applicants are applying for British citizenship.
This is not a new requirement and was an assessment we have always been making. In most cases this will not involve any additional evidence, for example where the person was working in the UK and so clearly in the UK in accordance with EEA regulations.
There may be cases, however, where it is not clear on what basis a person was in the UK and so we will need to make further enquiries to establish lawful residence. This is a statutory requirement and cannot be ignored and applies to all applicants for British Citizenship.
We have amended the application forms to ensure we can gather as much of this information upfront at the application stage where possible.
Asked by: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of EU citizens residing in the UK who still need to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme.
Answered by Kevin Foster
The total number of applications received up to 31 April 2021 was 5.42 million (5,423,300).
The latest published information on EU Settlement Scheme applications received can be found on the Home Office’s ‘EU Settlement Scheme statistics’ web page available at:
www.gov.uk/government/collections/eu-settlement-scheme-statistics
The published figures refer specifically to applications made to the EU Settlement Scheme and cannot be directly compared with estimates of the resident population of EU/EEA nationals in the UK.
The published figures include non-EEA family members, Irish nationals, and eligible EEA citizens not resident in the UK, none of whom are usually included in estimates of the resident EU population.
Furthermore, the population estimates do not take account of people’s migration intentions and will include people who have come to the UK for a range of purposes, including some who have no intention to settle in the UK.
Asked by: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Answer of 20 April 2021 to Question 181333 on Immigration: EU Nationals, what her Department's policy is in circumstances where an individual who is required to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme is unable to prove that they had reasonable grounds for missing the 30 June 2021 deadline.
Answered by Kevin Foster
In line with the general approach under the EU Settlement Scheme of looking to grant status, rather than for reasons to refuse, the Home Office will take a flexible and pragmatic approach to considering, in light of the circumstances of each case, whether there are reasonable grounds for an individual’s failure to meet the 30 June 2021 deadline.
Non-exhaustive guidance on what constitutes reasonable grounds for missing the deadline can be found at pages 26 to 44 of the main caseworker guidance for the scheme, which is available here:
www.gov.uk/government/publications/eu-settlement-scheme-caseworker-guidance.
The guidance will underpin a flexible and pragmatic approach to considering late applications under the scheme, in light of the circumstances of each case.
Asked by: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the level of need to provide physical documentation to prove someone has Settled Status, particularly for people who do not have access to IT equipment or their digital documents.
Answered by Kevin Foster
As part of the development of the EU Settlement Scheme, including the policy to provide those granted status with online evidence of immigration status instead of a physical document, consideration was given to the impact on those who may have limited digital skills or access to IT equipment. The Policy Equality Statement for the scheme can be found at:
Since the launch of the scheme, we have continued to assess the needs of users, and take steps to ensure those who may be less able to interact digitally are not disadvantaged. This has included making information about an individual’s immigration status available automatically through system to system checks, at the point at which they seek to access the public services. Such checking services are already live for HM Revenue & Customs, the Department for Work and Pensions and NHS England, and will reduce the occasions on which an individual has to use the online service to prove their status. We would be pleased to work with NHS Scotland to implement a similar checking service there relating to services which are the devolved responsibility of the Scottish Government if they wish to do so.
The UK Government has also put in place additional support services, to help those who require assistance to use the online immigration status service. We have a dedicated phone helpline (the Settlement Resolution Centre) where call operators can support users through the online journey, help them to access or recover their online account, help them to update their personal details and where necessary, share status on their behalf if they are unable to do so themselves. The Settlement Resolution Centre will also be able to assist those who are experiencing technical issues with their online immigration status, and if necessary, enable an individual’s status to be verified through alternative means.
Asked by: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of including a downloadable paper application form for the EU Settlement Scheme on the Government website.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Where a person needs to apply to the scheme using a paper application form, this can be obtained from the EU Settlement Resolution Centre. This is open seven days a week to provide assistance to applicants over the telephone and by email, including in ensuring they can easily obtain the paper application form appropriate to their circumstances where they need one.
Assistance for applicants to the EU Settlement Scheme is also available via a network of 72 organisations across the UK, for which £22 million in grant funding has been made available by the Home Office, and via the Assisted Digital service, which can provide help over the telephone or in person in completing an application online.