Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on the processing of SET DV applications.

Tackling violence against women and girls is a top priority for this government and our mission is to halve levels of violence against women and girls within a decade.

Migrant victims of domestic abuse can apply via form SET(DV) for immediate settlement under the Immigration Rules (Appendix Victim of Domestic Abuse (Appendix VDA)). Appendix VDA provides for victims of domestic abuse who have, or were last granted, permission to stay as a partner under the family Immigration Rules where the sponsor is a British citizen, settled, a member of HM Forces, is in the UK with limited stay as a refugee or with pre-settled status under the EUSS.

SET(DV) is a bespoke application form that captures all the information required to make a decision under Appendix VDA. These applications are assessed by a dedicated domestic abuse caseworking team within the Home Office. They consider all the information and evidence provided in the round and whether, on the balance of probabilities, the applicant can be granted settlement as a victim of domestic abuse.