Found: Embassy & Consulates in the United Kingdom, ‘Visa Waiver Program and ESTA’ visas

Found: Our Visas and Border webpage has a section covering ETA2 and includes the official materials published

Found: submitted traveller data used by national governments is related to travel authorisations, such as visas

Found: cards and to ease travel for those children within French schools that would ordinarily require visas

Found: with other universities in the UK and overseas for those holding postgraduate places, support with visas

Found: British border control system is already fairly heavily subsidised by people who buy passports and visas

Found: still 150,000 vacancies, and in the meantime, in the first 18 months, there were over 120 care worker visas

Found: don’t have the data on that but I know that DSIT is doing some investigation into those kinds of visas

Found: rtant policies, such as changes to the Immigration Rules relating to health and social care areas and visas

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Hong Kong residents born before 1997 have been granted British National (Overseas) visas under exceptional circumstances.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

All applications are determined on a case-by-case basis depending on their individual circumstances.

The Home Office does not hold data on the number of applications that have been granted a British National (Overseas) visa specifically under exceptional circumstances.

The Home Office releases data on the BN(O) route as part of the quarterly migration statistics which can be found at the following link: Safe and legal (humanitarian) routes to the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will have discussions with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the potential impact of the increased Minimum Income Requirement on (a) women and (b) people belonging to specific ethnicities.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

The Minister for Women and Equalities wrote to all Government departments in December last year reminding them of their statutory duty to comply with the Public Sector Equality Duty when shaping policy and delivering services. The duty requires public authorities to ensure that equality issues are actively considered in order to remove or minimise disadvantage. As part of the Equality Act 2010, the Public Sector Equality Duty includes the protected characteristics of sex and race.

To assist departments' compliance with the duty, the Minister for Women and Equalities provided updated Public Sector Equality Duty guidance.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of changes to the graduate visa route on export earnings.

Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Government remains committed to sustainable growth in student numbers and the International Education Strategy ambition to host 600,000 international students a year. The Department for Business and Trade is aware of the potential impact of any changes to the Graduate Route visa via assessments made by stakeholders such as Universities UK. To that end, HMG’s International Education Champion, Sir Steve Smith, is advising the Migration Advisory Committee’s review of the Graduate Route.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the correspondence of 12 March 2024 from Professor Brian Bell, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the timescales given for the Migration Advisory Committee's review of the graduate route on the quality and quantity of evidence that the Committee can use to answer the questions included in the commissioning letter.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

It is important that we provide certainty on this issue in a timely manner, which is why we asked the MAC to carry out a rapid review. We will consider the evidence put forward by the MAC very closely.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to Professor Brian Bell's letter, published by his Department on 12 March 2024, what assessment he has made of Migration Advisory Committee's concerns on the timescales for its review of the Graduate route.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

It is important that we provide certainty on this issue in a timely manner, which is why we asked the MAC to carry out a rapid review. We will consider the evidence put forward by the MAC very closely.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the impact of the (a) removal of the ability of students on taught masters courses to bring dependants and (b) increase in (i) visa and (ii) Immigration Health Surcharge fees on levels of demand for the Graduate visa.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

An Impact Assessment has been prepared to accompany the dependant changes to the Student route, announced in May 2023, which came into force in January 2024. The Impact Assessment will be published in due course.

Impact assessments estimating the impacts of increasing visa fees and the Immigration Health Surcharge were published alongside the explanatory material for the changes. These can be found at The Immigration and Nationality (Fees) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2023 - Impact Assessment (legislation.gov.uk) and The Immigration (Health Charge) (Amendment) Order 2023 - Impact Assessment (legislation.gov.uk).

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of granting a visa waiver for Ukrainians visiting relatives and friends (a) displaced by the war in Ukraine and (b) temporarily resident in the UK.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

Visit visas are an important part of securing the UK’s border.

Waiving visa requirements for a specific cohort of Ukrainian nationals would not be consistent with the purpose of the visa requirement. There is no obvious mechanism for delivering the utility of a visa application and biometric enrolment, which underpin the role visas play in securing our border, whilst also distinguishing a cohort of Ukrainian nationals who have the requirements waived. Identifying those individuals and enrolling their biometrics would require a process which would be, in practice, nearly identical to a visa application.

Ukrainians who want to visit relatives and friends in the UK can apply for a standard visitor visa, including multiple-entry visas. The UK has a visa application centre (VAC) in Kyiv, and a VAC network in neighbouring countries, enabling Ukrainians to access these services and apply for visas.

This is in no way a reflection on our support for Ukraine which remains, and will always remain, steadfast. The Homes for Ukraine sponsorship scheme remains open for new applications from those wishing to come to the UK, seeking temporary sanctuary from the conflict.

To provide future certainty, we recently announced the new Ukraine Permission Extension scheme, which is a new visa scheme for existing Ukraine scheme visa holders who have made the UK their temporary home. It will provide permission to stay in the UK for an additional 18 months and is due to open early in 2025.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether any foreign country has paid for the flights or accommodation of any Minister visiting that country in the past two years; and if so, who the Ministers were, what were the reasons for their visits, which country was visited, and the cost of (1) the flights, and (2) the accommodation.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Cross-Whitehall data on flights and accommodation of any Minister visiting foreign countries is not centrally held by the FCDO and complying with this request would incur a disproportionate cost to the department.

However, information relating to overseas travel by Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Ministers is published on GOV.UK, including costs of travel, and on other costs (visas, accommodation, meals).

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many employers held visa sponsorship licences in (a) 2020, (b) 2021, (c) 2022 and (d) 2023.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

The Home Office publishes the latest register of worker and temporary worker licensed sponsors at: Register of licensed sponsors: workers - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) This is a live document that is continually updated.

Data that has been updated quarterly since 2014 and includes the number of valid sponsor licences, can be found at: Sponsorship transparency data: Q4 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

The number of organisations annually on the register of sponsors can also be found under Sponsorship Summary Tables at: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of removing minimum income thresholds for spouse/partner visas.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

We do not intend to remove the Minimum Income Requirement (MIR) for spouse / partner visas under Appendix FM to the Immigration Rules.

The purpose of the MIR, implemented in July 2012 along with other reforms of the family Immigration Rules, is to ensure family migrants are supported at a reasonable level so they do not become a burden on the taxpayer and they can participate sufficiently in everyday life to facilitate their integration into British society.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what recent assessment he has made of the level of risk to the safety of aid workers in (a) Israel and (b) the Occupied Palestinian Territories; and what steps he is taking to help protect (i) international aid agencies and (ii) their employees from (A) threats and (B) other hindrance.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

The Foreign Secretary has called on Israel to reform its deconfliction mechanism to ensure the safety of aid workers and to make progress on the UN's minimal operating requirements, including more visas and driver approvals granted, as well as more trucks permitted to cross into Gaza.

The Prime Minister set out the need for more aid to enter Gaza in his call with Prime Minister Netanyahu on 2 April, and that far too many aid workers and ordinary civilians have lost their lives.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the safety of aid workers operating in (a) Israel and (b) Palestine.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

The Foreign Secretary has called on Israel to reform its deconfliction mechanism to ensure the safety of aid workers and to make progress on the UN's minimal operating requirements, including more visas and driver approvals granted, as well as more trucks permitted to cross into Gaza.

The Prime Minister set out the need for more aid to enter Gaza in his call with Prime Minister Netanyahu on 2 April, and that far too many aid workers and ordinary civilians have lost their lives.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of reports that a UNICEF humanitarian convoy was hit by live ammunition in northern Gaza on 9 April 2024.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

The Foreign Secretary has called on Israel to reform its deconfliction mechanism to ensure the safety of aid workers and to make progress on the UN's minimal operating requirements, including more visas and driver approvals granted, as well as more trucks permitted to cross into Gaza.

The Prime Minister set out the need for more aid to enter Gaza in his call with Prime Minister Netanyahu on 2 April, and that far too many aid workers and ordinary civilians have lost their lives.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what steps his Department is taking to help implement effective deconfliction in Gaza in order to facilitate the safe delivery of humanitarian aid.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

The Foreign Secretary has called on Israel to reform its deconfliction mechanism to ensure the safety of aid workers and to make progress on the UN's minimal operating requirements, including more visas and driver approvals granted, as well as more trucks permitted to cross into Gaza.

The Prime Minister set out the need for more aid to enter Gaza in his call with Prime Minister Netanyahu on 2 April, and that far too many aid workers and ordinary civilians have lost their lives.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent discussions he has had on opening crossing points into Gaza for medical and humanitarian aid.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

The British Government has pressed with Israeli counterparts the urgency of getting significantly more aid into Gaza to alleviate the desperate situation.

On 5th April Israel committed to significant steps to increase the amount of aid getting to Gaza, including allowing the delivery of humanitarian aid through the Port of Ashdod and the Erez checkpoint.

The UK has urged Israel to take these steps for a long time and they are welcome. We are resolved that the international community will work with Israel to see these vital changes fully implemented.

The Foreign Secretary has also called on Israel to reform its deconfliction mechanism to ensure the safety of aid workers, and to make progress on the UN's minimal operating requirements, including more visas and driver approvals granted, as well as more trucks permitted to cross into Gaza.

Palestinians are facing a devastating and growing humanitarian crisis. The UK is playing a leadership role in alleviating that suffering. We are doing everything we can to get more aid in as quickly as possible by land, sea and air.

150 tonnes of more UK aid arrived in Gaza on 13 March, including 840 family tents, 13,440 blankets, almost 3,000 shelter kits, and shelter-fixing kits, 6,000 sleeping mats and more than 3,000 dignity kits.

A field hospital, provided by UK Aid funding to UK-Med, has arrived in Gaza. This facility, staffed by UK and local medics, will be able to treat over 100 patients a day.

On 20 March, the Foreign Secretary announced the UK has funded WFP to provide 2000 tons of food aid, enough to feed 275,000 people in Gaza.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of changes to the graduate visa route on (a) the financial sustainability of the university sector and (b) local economies.

Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)

The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has been commissioned to provide further evidence to support the government’s understanding of how the Graduate Route is operating in practice. The focus of the Graduate Route review will be to prevent abuse and ensure the integrity and quality of our world-leading UK higher education (HE) sector is protected. No decisions have been made on the future of the Graduate Route and the department awaits the report of the MAC in May.

​

​The Office for Students (OfS), as the independent regulator of HE in England, is responsible for monitoring and reporting on the sustainability of HE providers. The department works closely with the OfS to understand the impact of international student recruitment on HE provider financial sustainability.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent discussions he has had on the provision of security protection for aid convoys in Gaza.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

It is imperative that those doing life-saving work are properly protected. The Foreign Secretary has called on Israel to reform its deconfliction mechanism to ensure the safety of aid workers, and to make progress on the UN's minimal operating requirements, including more visas and driver approvals granted, as well as more trucks permitted to cross into Gaza.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of a regional system for issuing of Tier 2 Skilled Worker visas.

Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)

The UK has a single immigration system which works for the whole of the UK. Adding different rules for different locations would introduce further complexity into the system and create frictions where workers move from one location to another.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with reference to the news story by the UN entitled Israel tells UN it will reject UNRWA food convoys into northern Gaza, published on 24 March 2024, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the Israeli government's decision to no longer approve the passage of any UNRWA food convoys into northern Gaza.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

We want to see Israel increase capacity inside Gaza and fully enable the UN's minimal operating requirements, including by allowing visas, telecommunications equipment, armoured vehicles, trucks and personal protective equipment.

In addition, we have called on Israel to increase access for aid and expand the types of aid allowed into Gaza.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that Israel allows the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) to provide humanitarian aid to northern Gaza.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

The Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister have underlined the need for Israel to ensure effective deconfliction in Gaza, open a crossing in northern Gaza and increase capacity inside Gaza, as well as fully enable the UN's minimal operating requirements, including by allowing visas, telecommunications equipment, armoured vehicles, trucks and personal protective equipment.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the news release from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights entitled Attacks on the humanitarian aid distribution system, published on 22 March 2024.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

It is imperative that those doing life-saving work are properly protected. The Foreign Secretary has called on Israel to reform its deconfliction mechanism to ensure the safety of aid workers and to make progress on the UN's minimal operating requirements, including more visas and driver approvals granted, as well as more trucks permitted to cross into Gaza.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what diplomatic steps his Department is taking to help ensure the protection of (a) Palestinians and (b) humanitarian workers during the distribution of aid in Gaza.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

It is imperative that those doing life-saving work are properly protected. The Foreign Secretary has called on Israel to reform its deconfliction mechanism to ensure the safety of aid workers and to make progress on the UN's minimal operating requirements, including more visas and driver approvals granted, as well as more trucks permitted to cross into Gaza.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make representations to the Israeli government on the potential merits of enabling a neutral humanitarian organisation to (a) conduct checks on aid and (b) facilitate the opening of more land routes.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

We have set out very clearly the steps that Israel needs to take, including an immediate humanitarian pause to get more aid in and the hostages out; increased capacity inside Gaza and fully enabling the UN's minimal operating requirements, including by allowing visas, telecommunications equipment, armoured vehicles, trucks and personal protective equipment; as well as increased access for aid through land routes, including the scaling up of the Jordan corridor, with a streamlined screening and delivery process, the opening of a crossing in northern Gaza, Ashdod Port fully open for aid delivery and increased screening capacity at Kerem Shalom and Nitzana to seven days a week and extended hours.

We also need to see an expansion of the types of aid allowed into Gaza and the provision of electricity, water and telecommunications, to both the north and the south of Gaza.

Do not implement changes that would fast track visas or settlement for these individuals from Gaza, as we believe that there is a not insignificant risk of Hamas terrorists inadvertently being allowed into the UK under such a scheme.

Found: Do not implement changes that would fast track visas or settlement for these individuals from Gaza, as

Found: supplying and manufacturing false travel documents, including passports, national identity cards and blank visas

Found: physical immigration documents, called biometric residence permits (BRPs), inviting them to create a UK Visas

Found: From: Home Office and UK Visas and Immigration Published 17 April 2024 Get emails about

Found: includes: (i) those who merely passed through the Republic of Ireland; (ii) persons requiring visas

Found: From: Home Office and UK Visas and Immigration Published 17 April 2024 Get emails about

Found: in January 2021, until September 2023, there were approximately 191,000 applications, with 184,700 visas

Found: stringent UK health and safety standards deterred international installation technicians. 24 UK Government, Visas

Found: . • Visas: Schemes that focus on visas for tech talent, such as the Tier 1 Exceptional Talent Visa in

Found: supplying and manufacturing false travel documents, including passports, national identity cards and blank visas

Found: From: Home Office and UK Visas and Immigration Published 17 April 2024 Get emails about

Found: From: UK Visas and Immigration Published 12 April 2024 Get emails about this page

Found: From: UK Visas and Immigration Published 15 January 2014 Last updated 12 April 2024

Found: From: Home Office and UK Visas and Immigration Published 12 April 2024 Get emails about

Found: Details of the approved tests and Secure English Language Test centres are published on the UK Visas

Found: in January 2021, until September 2023, there were approximately 191,000 applications, with 184,700 visas

Found: controlling immigration ● Considering applications to enter and stay in the UK ● Issuing passports and visas

Found: The application process for an extension will open three months before current visas are due to expire