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Immigration: Gurkhas

Volume 494: debated on Monday 15 June 2009

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions he has had with Ministerial colleagues on Government policy in respect of Gurkha settlement rights. (274005)

We were determined to get the guidance right to ensure that it is fair to all Gurkhas. Officials in the UK Border Agency consulted across Government.

The consultation process and the issues involved were complex. There was a need to consider issues such as how many former Gurkhas would want to settle, the impact on communities and affordability.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of retired Gurkhas expected to settle in the UK following the High Court decision of 30 September 2008. (274006)

As a result of the High Court decision of 30 September 2008 the UK Border Agency issued revised guidance on 24 April 2009 for considering settlement applications from former Gurkhas. We estimated that approximately 10,000 former Gurkhas and their families would benefit from the new guidance and would be entitled to settle in the United Kingdom should they choose to do so. These estimates were based on an analysis of records held by the Ministry of Defence.

On 21 May 2009 the Home Secretary announced that any former Gurkha with more than four years service who had been discharged from the Brigade of Gurkhas before 1 July 1997 would be eligible for settlement in the UK. We estimate that 36,000 former Gurkhas are now eligible to apply to come to the United Kingdom although we believe that not all of those would want to settle here.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many legacy cases involving Gurkhas the UK Border Agency has; (275905)

(2) how many Gurkha legacy cases had been concluded by 31 May 2009.

Legacy cases are recorded by nationality. It is not possible to disaggregate the number of Nepalese cases that may involve Gurkhas without the examination of individual cases at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of (a) former Gurkha soldiers and (b) dependants of such soldiers eligible for residency in the UK following the recent change in policy, broken down by period of service during (a) 1947 to 1952, (b) 1953 to 1958, (c) 1959 to 1964, (d) 1965 to 1969, (e) 1970 to 1974, (f) 1975 to 1979, (g) 1980 to 1984, (h) 1985 to 1989, (i) 1990 to 1994, (j) 1995 to 1999 and (k) 2000 to 2004. (278660)

The estimate of the number of former Gurkha soldiers and the dependants of such soldiers eligible for residency in the UK following the recent change in policy was not broken down by the period of service of the former Gurkha soldiers.

The estimates were based on the known age profile of former Gurkha soldiers and the estimated age profile of their spouses and dependants.