Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the effect on the work of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy of delays to the issue of visas to (a) Dr Fadia Kiwan, Director General of the Arab Women Organization for an event in Parliament on the 5 December 2018, (b) Intisar al-Jabouri, member of the Council of Representatives of Iraq, for an event in Parliament on the 5 December 2018 and (c) Reagan Wamajji, representative of the Ugandan civil society organisation Parliament Watch, for an event in Parliament on the 3 July 2019.

The Westminster Foundation for Democracy organised these events on behalf of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Democracy in the World, for which they are the Secretariat. Both events went ahead, with the Secretary of State for the Department for International Development attending the Westminster Foundation for Democracy's annual reception on 3 July. Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials also attended the event on young political leaders in East Africa on 3 July, and the event on 5 December on women's political leadership.

All UK Visa applications are considered on their individual merits and in line with the UK Immigration Rules https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-v-visitor-rules which set out the requirements to visit the UK. These requirements apply to all visitors to the UK and the onus is on the applicant to demonstrate that they satisfy the immigration rules. Under our published customer service standards we aim to process straightforward non-settlement applications within 15 working days.