Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Home Office response to report on re-inspection of family reunion applications, published 21 February 2023, and the accepted recommendation from the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration to implement a mechanism to triage family reunion applications after biometrics have been submitted and before the decision-making stage, when the dedicated team to work on this will be in place.

The Home Secretary has fully accepted all the recommendations made in the report by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration regarding family reunion applications.

Following the recommendations made, the Home Office has already undertaken a review of resourcing for consideration of Family Reunion visa applications, and have a dedicated resource to identify, for example, unaccompanied children and prioritise their applications.