Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average wait time has been for a person who has lost their UK residency permit in the Americas to receive a replacement over the last 12 months.

When the holder of a Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) loses their BRP abroad they are required to report it as lost, stolen or damaged via the www.gov.uk website at: https://www.gov.uk/biometric-residence-permits/lost-stolen-damaged. They are then required to obtain a ‘replacement BRP visa’ from a Visa Application Centre abroad before returning to the UK. The data requested in relation to average processing times for this type of visa application is not held in the format specified in the questions. However, the service standard for the ‘replacement BRP visa’ application is 15 days from date of application, although this may vary at individual Visa Application Centres.

Once the BRP holder has obtained their ‘replacement BRP visa’ and been able to return to the UK they will be required to apply for a replacement BRP. Further information on how to do this can be obtained from: https://www.gov.uk/biometric-residence-permits/replace. The data requested in relation to average processing times for the BRP RC applications is not held in the format specified in the questions.

For those individuals who have limited leave to remain in the UK the service level agreement is to process all BRP RC applications within 8 weeks of receipt. For those with indefinite leave to remain in the UK the service level agreement is to process all BRP RC applications within 6 months of receipt.