Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her Department plans to do to increase the number of refugees reaching the UK safely and legally under the family reunification scheme.

Mr Robert Goodwill

We support the principle of family unity and have several routes for families to be reunited safely. Our family reunion policy allows a spouse or partner and children under the age of 18 of those granted protection in the UK to join them here, if they formed part of the family unit before the sponsor fled their country. Over the past five years we have granted over 22,000 family reunion visas and will continue to do so.

Where an application fails under the Immigration Rules, we consider whether there are exceptional or compassionate reasons for granting a visa outside the Rules. We published a revised Home Office policy on family reunion in July which provides further guidance for decision-makers on the types of case that may benefit from a grant of leave outside the Rules where there are exceptional circumstances.

This guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/family-reunion-instruction.