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14 Jan 2008 : Column 1048W—continued

	Percentage refused
Category	2001	2002	2003	2004( 2,7)	2005( 7)	2006( 8)
All decisions, excluding dependants	5.6	5.5	6.8	8.1	8.6	7.2
Visitors	11.1	8.4	10.9	10.0	9.3	9.6
Working holidaymakers	6.1	2.6	19.7	21.1	54.3	50.7
Students	7.7	5.3	2.9	4.3	7.0	5.5
Trainees	1.3	0.6	0.5	0.7	1.0	4.1
Au Pairs	35.1	45.4	63.8	27.1	18.7	12.6
Work permit holders	1.8	3.1	7.5	8.7	10.6	4.2
Permit free employment(4)	2.9	10.7	9.9	7.6	4.5	2.6
Independent means	42.4	66.7	76.2	60.0	25.0	11.1
Business(5)	5.6	7.8	4.1	12.5	47.3	19.7
Fiancé(e)s	22.4	22.4	20.1	21.3	17.9	14.7
Spouse (probationary period applications)(6)	7.4	3.8	9.8	9.9	7.0	5.1
Other limited leave	17.9	16.5	31.2	22.9	23.4	17.0
Settlement	2.9	5.4	9.1	9.2	6.5	8.7
Category Unknown	n/a	15.7	8.2	52.7	51.6	51.6
n/a not applicable. (1) Excludes dependants of principal applicants, asylum related decisions and withdrawn applications. (2) Includes nationals of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia before 1 May 2004, but excludes them from this date. (3) Excludes the outcome of appeals. (4) Includes writers and artists. (5) Includes investors and innovators. (6) Includes unmarried partners. (7) Revised. (8) Provisional.

Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the letter of 17 December 2007 from the chief executive of the Border and Immigration Agency to the Home Affairs Committee, when the criteria used to determine the
14 Jan 2008 : Column 1049W
grant of leave to remain to foreign nationals was adopted; and what means were used to publicise them. [177363]

Mr. Byrne [holding answer 10 January 2008]: All decisions are made on a case by case basis under existing law and policy. The Border and Immigration Agency's website provides details of the policy and guidance that staff follow. We publish this information as part of our commitment to freedom of information.

Entry Clearances: Employment

Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department further to the answer of 11 December 2007, Official Report, column 481W, on entry clearances: employment, how many non-EU citizens have obtained leave to (a) remain and (b) enter the UK under the categories of (i) the International Graduate Scheme, (ii) Innovator, (iii) working and the (iv) Gap Year Students Highly Skilled Migrant Programme in each year since the scheme began. [175266]

Mr. Byrne [holding answer 18 December 2007]: The following table shows the number approvals of leave to remain and leave to enter the UK for overseas nationals under the categories of the International Graduate Scheme, Innovator, Working Holiday Maker, Work Permits, Gap Year Students and Highly Skilled Migrant Programme for each year for which data are available.

The figures quoted are not provided under National Statistics protocols and have been derived from local management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change.

14 Jan 2008 : Column 1050W

	Leave to enter—out of country	Leave to remain—in country	Grand total
Gap year entrant
2004	415	20	435
2005	795	45	840
2006	810	35	845
2007 to November 2007	685	20	705
Grand total	2,705	120	2,825
Working holiday maker
2003	54,140	n/a	—
2004	70,275	20	70,295
2005	58,420	45	58,465
2006	46,160	35	46,195
2007 to November 2007	37,595	20	37,615
Grand total	212,450	120	212,570
Innovator applications approvals
2003	20	n/a	20
2004	15	20	35
2005	10	45	55
2006	10	35	45
2007 to November 2007	5	20	25
Grand total	60	120	180
International graduate scheme( 1)
2007 to November 2007	510	8,200	8,710

HSMP applications approvals
	Approval entry clearance	Approval leave to remain	Grand total
2002	—	135	135
2003	1,340	765	2,105
2004	3,240	2,265	5,505
2005	6,510	6,715	13,225
2006	7,840	14,095	21,935
2007	9,195	6,255	15,450
Grand total	28,125	30,235	58,360

Work permits approvals( 2)
	Entry clearance	Granted leave to remain	Grand total
1995	n/a	n/a	—
1996	n/a	n/a	—
1997	n/a	n/a	—
1998	n/a	n/a	—
1999	n/a	n/a	—
2000	n/a	n/a	—
2001	n/a	n/a	—
2002	n/a	45,125	45,125
2003	32,240	71,160	103,400
2004	53,860	50,645	104,505
2005	63,340	52,655	115,995
2006	71,870	36,050	107,920
2007 to November 2007	62,915	28,555	91,470
Total	284,225	946,875	1,231,100
(1) Scheme started in May 2007. (2) Including members of groups. Notes: 1. The data in this publication are based on Management Information, are provisional and may be subject to change. 2. The data are not National Statistics. 3. Figures are rounded to nearest five. 4. Because of rounding, figures may not add up to totals shown.

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