Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether there is a special unit in the Home Office responsible for the scrutiny of applications for visas to enter the UK for the purpose of any form of scientific research; and if not, whether they will set up such a unit.

Applications for visas to enter the UK for the purpose of scientific research are made under the Points Based System, Study, or Academic Visit categories and follow the standard process for assessing applications in these categories. All staff assessing visa applications are fully trained in the relevant field.

As applications to come to the UK to conduct scientific research are already covered by current processes, there are no plans at present to set up a unit solely to assess these applications.