Immigration: Armed Forces

Lady Hermon
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what percentage of people eligible to apply for residence in the United Kingdom by virtue of providing assistance to UK armed forces (a) have been granted residence, (b) have been refused and (c) have their applications yet to be processed.

Mr. Byrne
As of 12 February 2008, of those staff who have contacted Her Majesty's Government, 293 people are eligible to apply for residence in the United Kingdom by virtue of providing assistance to the UK armed forces in Iraq. None have yet been granted residence. 93 have chosen not to opt for resettlement, and a further five have withdrawn their interest in resettlement. One has been refused.

Of the remainder, 103 have yet to decide which form of assistance to choose; 84 are under initial consideration for eligibility for the Gateway resettlement programme and seven have expressed an interest in indefinite leave to enter the UK but have not submitted their applications to UK Visas.