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Written question asked by Dominic Grieve (Conservative) on Wednesday, 8 October 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 13 October 2008. It was answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern (Labour) on Tuesday, 21 October 2008 on behalf of the Home Office.

Entry Clearances: Biometrics

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many biometric visas have been issued to children under the age of 16 years, broken down by age.
Answer

Up to 30 September 2008, a total of 178,230 biometric visas have been issued to children under the age of 16. A breakdown of this figure by age is not readily available from our records and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, the following table shows the total number of visa applications received from children under 16 who have provided their biometric data, broken down by age group, which I hope is helpful.

Visa applications from children under the age of 16 where biometric data provided: 1 January 2006 to 30 September 2008
Age Applications
0-5 19,142
6-11 108,386
12-15 112,474
Total under 16 240,002
Notes:
1. Children under the age of five are not required to provide their biometric data. The figure for the 0 to five-year-old group therefore relates to five-year-olds only.
2. These figure are unpublished and should be treated as provisional.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
481 c264W; 226399
Session
2007-08
Subjects
Biometrics Entry clearances
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk