To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average length of time was to (a) process a visa application and (b) despatch an approved passport following approval of a visa in the last year for which figures are available. (315360)

[holding answer 5 February 2010]: The global average processing time for all visa applications in calendar year 2009 was 13.6 working days. We are unable to provide an average time for despatching a passport to an applicant following a decision to issue a visa. This information is not available from our central records.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people from each country who were classified as having (a) low and (b) higher level English language skills overstayed in the UK following admittance under tier 4 of the points-based immigration system in the latest period for which figures are available. (316371)

The UK Border Agency does not hold records on the level of English language skills held by those granted entry to the country under tier 4 of the points based system. It is the responsibility of the tier 4 sponsor to assess the student’s ability to follow a course of study; this includes checking the student’s English language ability.