Refugees: Biometric Residence Permits

(asked on 27th February 2023) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average time is for a refugee to receive a Biometric Residence Permit after receiving refugee status.


Answered by
Robert Jenrick Portrait
Robert Jenrick
This question was answered on 7th March 2023

The waiting times for biometric residence permits (BRP) are dictated by the BRP production and delivery processes. Regarding the individual production time of each BRP from the time a decision is made, the information is not available publicly and could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

We aim to deliver a BRP within 7 working days of the immigration decision. BRPs are produced at the secure delivery facility (Driver and Vehicle Licencing Agency (DVLA)) within 48 hours of the production request being made and are collected by our secure delivery partner the same day. Our secure delivery partner aims to attempt to deliver the BRPs within 48 hours of receipt of the BRPs. This equates to a minimum of 5 working days from date of production request being made to delivery of the BRP. We have added an additional 2 working days to the timeline advised to applicants to allow us to resolve any production issues.

Since 1st April 2022, DVLA have produced all BRPs within 48 hours of the production request, with 97.7% being produced within 24 hours. Since 1st April 2022, our delivery partner attempted to deliver over 99% of BRPs within 48 hours, and delivered over 75% of BRPs successfully on first delivery attempt.

The Home Office is developing a border and immigration system which will be digital by default. The ambition is to phase out physical documents such as biometric residence permits before the end of 2024 as we move towards a system of online evidence of immigration status (eVisas).

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