PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Entry Clearances: Overseas Students (11 February 2015)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average time taken for the determination of applications for Tier 4 visas Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies certificates was in the last period for which figures are available; and what the average time taken for applications equivalent to those applications was in the period before that period.

Asked by:
Sir Christopher Chope (Conservative)

Information on the average time taken to decide a Confirmation of Acceptance
for Studies request application is not routinely published.

There are two types of Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) requests
that a sponsor can submit:

An 'annual CAS request' for an allocation of CAS to cover a 12 month period
An ' in-year CAS request' if additional CAS are needed at any point during
the year.

The Home Office introduced a published service standard on 1 January 2014 of 18
weeks and aims to conclude all such cases within that timeframe.

Answered by:
James Brokenshire (Conservative)
24 February 2015