Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to her Department's correspondence, reference CTS B2731/11 advising that applications are being processed in date order, how many different queues UKVI is operating; what the length was of each of those queues as of 19 February 2021; and on what date the applications that have been outstanding the longest were submitted.

The Home Office is committed to ensuring that all applications are considered without unnecessary delay. Information on our immigration routes with service standards and whether they have been processed against these standards is available as part of our transparency data, at: Migration transparency data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

If an application is deemed complex and expected to take longer than the standard processing timescale, UKVI will write to the customer within the standard processing time and explain what will happen next. The published information on processing times for complex/ non straightforward visa applications is published as part of the Migration Transparency data, available at Migration transparency data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

All asylum claims are carefully considered on their individual merits on the evidence available to the decision maker. We are committed to ensuring that asylum claims are considered without unnecessary delay, so that those who need protection are granted as soon as possible. Although we concentrate on oldest cases there may be reasons where some applications may be prioritised due to a number of factors such as vulnerability. Delays may also occur where we require further information/investigations before a decision can be made on the application.