Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what is the (a) earliest and (b) latest date for deciding the application for family reunion made in the United Arab Emirates on 1 September 2022, reference GWFO66746607.

Information regarding processing times for family reunion applications is not routinely published and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. We are working outside the 60 working day service standard with the majority of applications being considered at over double the service standard timescale.

We are committed to improving and speeding up processing times for family reunion applications and acknowledge the need to dedicate more resource to support this safe and legal route as well as reviewing processes to streamline decision making to provide a better service to our customers.

In the year ending September 2022, 4,786 family reunion visas were issued to partners and children of those granted asylum or humanitarian protection, around a third (36%) fewer than the number in 2019, the year prior to the pandemic. Of these, 2,575 (54%) were children (aged under 18).

We will prioritise applications where there is a particularly urgent or compelling reason to do so.