Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of immigration cases were designated as complex in (a) 2015, (b) 2014 and (c) 2013.
Answered by James Brokenshire
Following feedback from customers and partners UKV&I introduced new service standards in January 2014. As such statistical information for 2013 is not available.
The table below shows the number and proportion of immigration cases designated as complex in 2014 and 2015
| Complex Case | Total Apps Received | % of Complex Cases |
2014 (01/04/2014 - 31/12/2014) | 87,219 | 412,337 | 21% |
2015 | 84,435 | 513,475 | 16% |
Following feedback from customers and partners UKV&I introduced new service standards in January 2014. As such statistical information for 2013 is not available. Our records indicate the average waiting time (days) for immigration cases that are designated as complex is as follows.
| Average Waiting Time |
2014 (01/04/2014 - 31/12/2014) | 122 |
2015 | 163 |
Overall Average | 147 |
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 15 July 2015 to Question 5846, what (a) proportion and (b) number of applications for a passport for a child overseas take longer than eight months to process.
Answered by James Brokenshire
A total of 49,173 international child passport applications finished processing in January-June 2015. Of this total, 1,068 (2.2%) took longer than eight months to be processed.
The processing time is the length of time from receipt of the application to the passport being printed.
Her Majesty’s Passport Office (HMPO) must be fully satisfied that all appropriate checks have been completed successfully prior to the issuance of passport facilities. This is particularly important in relation to child applications as part of Her Majesty’s Passport Office responsibility to protect potentially vulnerable children, including those potentially at risk of child trafficking and to maintain the integrity of the British Passport.
These checks can require the provision of information from other agencies overseas – particularly in complex applications such as surrogacy cases.
Delays in the provision of this information to HMPO can lead to significantly extended timeframes in processing applications.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 15 July 2015 to Question 5849, how many complaints she has received on slow service at HM Passport Office in each of the last two years.
Answered by James Brokenshire
Her Majesty’s Passport Office has dealt with a range of customer enquiries over the last two years. These enquiries have come from members of the public and from Members of Parliament on behalf of their constituents.
Her Majesty’s Passport Office is committed to processing applications as quickly as possible while maintaining the high level of security within the application system. Those applicants who need to travel urgently have their cases considered as a priority.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, under what circumstances a non-British parent of a young child based in the UK, who is not allowed to stay in the country for periods longer than six months, stops being considered as a primary care giver for immigration purposes as a result of siblings filling that role.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The requirements to be met by a non-European Economic Area national for entry clearance to or leave to remain in the UK as a parent of a child based here are set out in paragraphs EC-PT.1.1. and R-LTRPT.1.1. of Appendix FM to the Immigration Rules. Further guidance on these requirements can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/chapter-8-appendix-fm-family-members
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to ensure that estimated application processing timelines by HM Passport Office are realised.
Answered by James Brokenshire
Her Majesty’s Passport Office (HMPO) is committed to processing applications as quickly as possible. 99.95% of UK straightforward passport applications were processed to published service standards in June 2015. The published processing times are for guidance only and complex applications can take significantly longer to complete. HMPO is unable to issue a passport until all the requisite security checks have been completed.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what (a) number and (b) proportion of applications for a passport for a child overseas take longer than (a) three, (b) four and (c) six months to be processed.
Answered by James Brokenshire
A total of 49,173 international child passport applications finished processing in January-June 2015. Of this total, 3,242 (6.6%) took longer than three months to be processed, 2,539 (5.2%) took longer than four months to be processed, and 1,657 (3.4%) took longer than six months to be processed.
The processing time is the length of time from receipt of the application to the passport being printed. For international child passport applications processed in the same period, the average processing time was 19.4 working days. Information is not held on the time between receipt of application and interview date as the date of interview can be subject to customer availability.
Her Majesty’s Passport Office must be fully satisfied that all appropriate checks have been completed successfully prior to the issuance of passport facilities. This is particularly important in relation to child applications as part of Her Majesty’s Passport Office responsibility to protect potentially vulnerable children, including those potentially at risk of child trafficking and to maintain the integrity of the British Passport.
These checks can require the provision of information from other agencies overseas – particularly in complex applications such as surrogacy cases.
Delays in the provision of this information to HMPO can lead to significantly extended timeframe in processing applications.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will review the application processing timescale published by HM Passport Office for passport applications for children who are overseas.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The expected turnaround times for all applications are subject to ongoing review and every effort is made to ensure that cases, particularly involving children overseas, are dealt with as quickly as possible. We will shortly be publishing updated expected turnaround times on www.gov.uk for all application types covering 133 countries.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average time is for processing a passport application for a child overseas from the initial application to the interview in connection with that application.
Answered by James Brokenshire
A total of 49,173 international child passport applications finished processing in January-June 2015. Of this total, 3,242 (6.6%) took longer than three months to be processed, 2,539 (5.2%) took longer than four months to be processed, and 1,657 (3.4%) took longer than six months to be processed.
The processing time is the length of time from receipt of the application to the passport being printed. For international child passport applications processed in the same period, the average processing time was 19.4 working days. Information is not held on the time between receipt of application and interview date as the date of interview can be subject to customer availability.
Her Majesty’s Passport Office must be fully satisfied that all appropriate checks have been completed successfully prior to the issuance of passport facilities. This is particularly important in relation to child applications as part of Her Majesty’s Passport Office responsibility to protect potentially vulnerable children, including those potentially at risk of child trafficking and to maintain the integrity of the British Passport.
These checks can require the provision of information from other agencies overseas – particularly in complex applications such as surrogacy cases.
Delays in the provision of this information to HMPO can lead to significantly extended timeframe in processing applications.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what representations she has received on (a) poor and (b) slow service at HM Passport Office in each of the last five years.
Answered by James Brokenshire
Numerous representations have been made both about the general passport issuing process as well as on behalf of individual applicants. They have been received from Members of Parliament and the public. Those with concerns about imminent travel plans for applicants are given priority.