[holding answer 15 January 2007]: Managed Migration Directorate aim to decide applications according to their published service standards. These are to despatch 70 per cent. of charged postal applications within 20 working days and 90 per cent. within 70 working days. For non-charged postal applications, they aim to despatch 25 per cent. within 20 working days and 30 per cent. within 70 working days. Straightforward applications for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) are completed within this timescale, though more complex cases may take longer. There are no plans at present to reduce the time taken to determine indefinite leave to remain applications. The Asylum Casework Directorate has processed the great majority of family indefinite leave to remain cases and has no plans at present to assess the time required to resolve those that remain outstanding. Information on the Asylum Directorate's family ILR exercise is published quarterly and annually and is available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html