asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they plan to make the use of application forms compulsory for foreign nationals wishing to apply for leave to remain in the Untied Kingdom.

My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department has today laid an Immigration Rules change which will make compulsory from 3rd June the use of application forms for a variation of leave to enter or remain. He has placed copies of the forms he prescribed in the Library. The scheme will not cover applications under European Community Law or applications for asylum. The Immigration and Nationality Department has been operating a voluntary trial of application forms since June 1995. Experience of the trial has shown that the forms enable us to provide a more efficient service to genuine applicants at a cheaper cost to the public purse. A more efficient system will also improve the immigration control.