Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether biometric and fingerprint data taken from a visa applicant's application to enter the UK are deleted from any database if that applicant is subsequently refused entry; and if not, for what specific purpose the data are retained.

Fingerprints taken from visa applicants are normally retained for up to ten years regardless of whether the application was successful, as set out in regulations made under the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002.

This enables the Secretary of State to identify easily those who make further applications for visas to come to the UK, preventing immigration abuse and those who are a risk of high harm from entering the country.