Tom Harris has protested to the Home Office about the unacceptable delays in issuing visas to successful appeal applicants, particularly those from Pakistan and India.

In a letter to the Home Office, he says that he is aware of a large number of occasions when visa appeals are successful, but then there are extremely long delays in the visa being issued.

"The situation as it stands is unacceptable.  If someone applies for a visa and the decision is made to grant it - whether this is after appeal or a first decision - that visa should be granted as soon as possible.  Here in my constituency of Glasgow South, I see first hand the huge amounts of distress being caused to the families of the people who have had visas approved but not yet issued.  Successful applicants, anxious to begin their life here in the UK are missing out on important family events and experiences, causing a great deal of concern to families in the Asian community.

"I've raised many cases like this with the UK Border Agency and I am disapppointed that the response from officials has often been slow and unhelpful.  Because of this, they've left me with no other option but to contact the minister directly to make him aware of my concerns and the concerns of my constituents.  My hope is that the UK Border Agency will be forced to look at ways to improve the efficiency of its services so that those entitled to visas are issued them as quickly as possible."