Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Pursuant to the Answer of 11 September 2023 to Question 195848 on Visas: Afghanistan, what approach she is taking to reviewing processes to streamline decision making for family reunion visa applications; whether she plans to consult MPs; and if she will make a statement.

The Government’s refugee family reunion policy provides a safe and legal route to bring families together.

We are committed to improving and speeding up processing times for family reunion applications to reduce the time separated families wait for a decision. This includes determining cases more swiftly where they are straightforward and meet the requirements of the Immigration Rules. We are also increasing decision making and other resource to support family reunion case processing. This is in addition to looking more broadly at how the end-to-end decision-making process can be simplified and streamlined.

Since 2015, 46,511 family reunion visas have been granted to family members of refugees as of the end of June 2023.