Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the impact of changing without notice the service standard for spouse visa applications from 12 to 24 weeks on applicants.

The Home Office is currently prioritising Ukraine Visa Schemes applications in response to the humanitarian crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Applicants were informed of the change to a 24-week service standard on 11 May 2022 and the department is currently operating within this.

Staff from other government departments, including DWP and HMRC, are being surged into the Home Office to help with Ukraine work and enable normal visa routes to return to normal service levels in due course.