Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost price is of a child citizenship application.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes the fees charged and the estimated unit cost of processing immigration and nationality applications on Gov.UK. This can be reviewed via the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/visa-fees-transparency-data.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of (a) gathering documentation and (b) submitting biometrics on people submitting refugee family reunion applications; and whether she plans to reduce those requirements in future changes to refugee family reunion.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The family reunion route is temporarily suspended for a short period until Spring 2026. The Home Office is reviewing the route, with the intention to set out and implement those changes from then.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to exempt (a) unaccompanied children seeking to reunite with parents already in the UK and (b) families facing (i) conflict, (ii) persecution and (iii) medical emergencies from future changes to refugee family reunion.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The family reunion route is temporarily suspended for a short period until Spring 2026. The Home Office is reviewing the route, with the intention to set out and implement those changes from then.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the review of refugee family reunion will consider the optimisation of decision making to reduce the need for appeals.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The family reunion route is temporarily suspended for a short period until Spring 2026. The Home Office is reviewing the route, with the intention to set out and implement those changes from then.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how she communicates to migrants in France about the route to the UK under the Migration Treaty with France.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Information about applying to the scheme is available online at the following link: UK/European Applicant Transfer Scheme - GOV.UK and applications continue to be received from migrants in France seeking to come to the UK. We continue to monitor engagement with the scheme to ensure it is being accessed by those wishing to consider making an application.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether asylum applicants are informed of a timeframe within which they would receive a decision in relation to their application to come to the UK under the UK-France Agreement on the Prevention of Dangerous Journeys.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Individuals who make an expression of interest application to the UK/European Applicant Transfer Scheme will be contacted when a decision is made on their application. Timeframes for considering applications may vary depending on the application. Applications are considered in accordance with the published Immigration Rules and guidance for the scheme.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to publish data on the (a) number of applications received and (b) outcomes of applications of people who have applied to come to the UK under UK-France Agreement on the Prevention of Dangerous Journeys.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes statistics on entry clearance visa applications and outcomes as part of the Immigration System Statistics quarterly release. Data for all visa types, including for those arriving via the UK-France Agreement on the Prevention of Dangerous Journeys, will be included within the entry clearance visas data tables.
The Home Office is committed to publishing further data at the end of the pilot period in 2026.
As of close of play on 20 October, 23 people have been transferred from France to the UK via the new safe, legal route. However, it is not appropriate to provide a continual update on each phase of the operation, not least as it involves sensitive information that could prove valuable to the organised immigration crime gangs that are behind small boats crossings.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been transferred from France to the UK under the Migration Treaty with France.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes statistics on entry clearance visa applications and outcomes as part of the Immigration System Statistics quarterly release. Data for all visa types, including for those arriving via the UK-France Agreement on the Prevention of Dangerous Journeys, will be included within the entry clearance visas data tables.
The Home Office is committed to publishing further data at the end of the pilot period in 2026.
As of close of play on 20 October, 23 people have been transferred from France to the UK via the new safe, legal route. However, it is not appropriate to provide a continual update on each phase of the operation, not least as it involves sensitive information that could prove valuable to the organised immigration crime gangs that are behind small boats crossings.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unaccompanied children were granted refugee family reunion visas in the year ending 30 June 2025.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes data on refugee family reunion in the 'Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release'. Data on refugee family reunion visa grants, by age group, is published in table Fam_D01 of the 'family reunion visa grants detailed datasets'. The latest data relate to June 2025.
In the year ending June 2025 11,641 children under the age of 18 were granted a family reunion visa - this figure includes both accompanied and unaccompanied children.
We do not publish data for the number of unaccompanied children who have been granted family reunion visas. 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, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well as quality and availability of data.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to support (a) refugees and (b) displaced Ukrainians with leave to remain in the UK to (i) secure decent employment and (ii) improve their English language skills.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
In the recently published Immigration White Paper, we committed to increase English Language proficiency across the immigration system. This change will support migrants to integrate and be active participants in their local communities.