asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by Lord Malloch-Brown on 19 February (WA 40), on how many occasions entry clearance officers in Tbilisi, Georgia, have reviewed decisions on appeal without sight of the grounds of appeal and additional evidence an applicant may have submitted. [HL2953]
This information is not available from visa records at our embassy in Tbilisi. However, I am advised that entry clearance staff at the embassy recall three occasions in the past three years when an entry clearance decision has been reviewed and an explanatory statement despatched to the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT) without a notice of appeal having been received. The AIT is responsible for ensuring that overseas posts receive appeal documents.
asked Her Majesty’s Government:
What reports have been received of irregularities in the handling of visa applicants to visit the United Kingdom from United Kingdom or Georgian citizens in each of the past three years. [HL2954]
The number of formal complaints received in the past three years about the handling of visa applications at our embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia are as follows:
2005—5;
2006—1; and
2007—5.
asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by Lord Malloch-Brown on 4 March (WA 169), on what date were the three entry clearance officers, the deputy head of Mission, the third secretary and the members of United Kingdom support staff originally appointed to the embassy in Tbilisi; and on what date they arrived in post. [HL2956]
The three entry clearance officers at our embassy in Tbilisi were appointed/arrived at post on the following dates:
the deputy head of Mission: 1 September 2007;
the third secretary: 6 March 2006; and
the support officer: 20 August 2007
asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by Lord Malloch-Brown on 4 March (WA 169), whether that Answer is consistent with the employment records of the department in relation to the length of contract of entry clearance officers at the British embassy in Georgia. [HL2958]
I regret that Lord Malloch-Brown's Written Answer of the 4 March (WA1 69) contained a factual error. One of the three entry clearance officers at our embassy in Tbilisi, the third secretary, has in fact been at post for approximately two years not three. Otherwise the information given was correct.
Entry clearance officers and other UK based staff are normally posted to our missions overseas for a period of three years.