Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on what criteria she decides whether to (a) predetermine an application before a person attends and (b) excuse the requirement to attend a Visa Application Centre to enrol their biometrics for a visa.

People who apply for Entry Clearance to come to the UK are normally required to attend a Visa Application Centre (VAC) to enrol their biometric information. We published guidance on Gov.UK in November 2022 which explains who can be excused or deferred from having to enrol their biometric information.

Non-urgent requests for applications to be predetermined, or for individuals to be excused the requirement to attend a VAC to enrol their biometric information are being placed on hold. This is pending the publication of new guidance about how the department handles claims from individuals that it is unsafe for them to travel to a VAC.

We do not currently collate or publish information on how many applications are predetermined or the number of people who are excused from having to attend a VAC to enrol their biometrics.