To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for leave to remain in the United Kingdom following marriage to a British or Irish citizen have been made during the past 12 months; and how many have been granted.

The available information is that in 1992, 15,690 applications, made after entry to the United Kingdom, to remain for a probationary year prior to settlement as the spouse of a British citizen, were granted. Corresponding information on refusals of such applications by spouses of British citizens is not separately identified in the statistics: in total 1,790 after-entry spouse applications were refused prior to a probationary year. Information on the outcome of applications by spouses of citizens of the Irish Republic is not separately identified.