Visas

House of Lords written question – answered at on 21 June 2011.

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Photo of Lord Laird Lord Laird UUP

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Jones on 7 February (WA 40), whether the 165 certificates of sponsorship to work in the United Kingdom applied for in 2010 from nationals from Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Jamaica, Peru and Venezuela with no stated occupation were accepted; and how many (a) actors, (b) entertainers, (c) dancers (d) choreographers and (e) musicians from (1) Colombia, (2) Cuba, (3) Jamaica and (4) Venezuela were issued with work permit visas in 2009 and 2010 respectively.

Photo of Baroness Browning Baroness Browning Minister of State (Home Office)

Of the 165 (rounded to the nearest five) certificates of sponsorship (CoS) assigned in 2010 to nationals from Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Jamaica, Peru and Venezuela, 145 were used in migrant applications. An assigned CoS does not mean that the applicant was actually successful in their visa or leave to remain application.

The points-based system was launched in November 2008, replacing the work permit route. As such no work permit visas were issued in 2009 and 2010 for the specific occupations mentioned. In 2009 and 2010, the endorsements used for entry by these occupations would be:

visit-entertainer; and tier five TW (cre-sport) migrant

Visas issued to nationals of Colombia, Cuba, Jamaica and Venezuela in the two categories in 2009 and 2010:

Year Nationality Endorsement Issued
2009 Colombia Tier five TW (cre-port) migrant 85
2009 Colombia Visit-entertainer 55
2010 Colombia Tier five TW (cre-sport) migrant 145
2010 Colombia Visit-entertainer 85
2009 Cuba Tier five TW (cre-sport) migrant 175
2009 Cuba Visit-entertainer 115
2010 Cuba Tier five TW (cre-sport) migrant 280
2010 Cuba Visit-entertainer 25
2009 Jamaica Tier five TW (cre-sport) migrant 425
2009 Jamaica Visit-entertainer 10
2010 Jamaica Tier five TW (cre-sport) migrant 370
2009 Jamaica Visit-entertainer 55
2009 Venezuela Tier five TW (cre-sport) migrant 10
2009 Venezuela Visit-entertainer 30
2010 Venezuela Tier five TW (cre-sport) migrant 250
2010 Venezuela Visit-entertainer 5

The grand total for the calendar years 2009 and 2010 are:

Endorsement Colombia Cuba Jamaica Venezuela
Tier five TW (cre-sport) migrant 230 455 795 260
Visit-entertainer 140 140 65 35

*This information is based on Management Information. It is provisional and subject to change.

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