Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many additional staff her Department has deployed to countries neighbouring Afghanistan to process Afghans fleeing Afghanistan.

The Home Office uses a “hub and spoke” model for all overseas visa applications whereby applications made at Visa Application Centres across the globe are routed electronically into regional hubs, including in the UK.

We will be able to meet any increase in demand through redirecting applications and redeploying staff to relevant decision making centres where required. We have not needed to deploy any additional staff to countries neighbouring Afghanistan but will keep this under review.