Almost 200 people are waiting for biometric visas after applications were paused due to a new system being introduced.

Douglas North MHK John Wannenburgh submitted two written questions relating to the issue to Treasury Minister Dr Alex Allinson.

Mr Wannenburgh asked how many people are awaiting biometric visas, for how long, why there has been a delay to processing biometric visas and what measures have been put in place to counter this.

Dr Allinson conceded there is a backlog due to the systems change but says the Nationality Service has now resumed.

He said: ‘There are currently 184 applicants waiting to have their biometrics taken. Following the resumption of the Nationality Service on March 11, 33 applicants have been invited in to enrol their biometrics, six of whom have now had all their checks completed and have been recommended for approval to His Excellency (Isle of Man Governor).

‘Applications to the Nationality Service have been paused since April 2024, while new systems and processes have been in development.

‘Testing was completed on a new casework management system for the Nationality service in early March and it is now in use with applications being progressed.

‘In addition, this new system is now digitally transferring data to the UK’s new Nationality system. Previously this process required manual update requests between the Isle of Man and the UK.

‘These new systems and processes should significantly decrease Nationality application processing times.

‘The island’s Nationality Service has resumed the taking of applicant’s biometrics.

‘The development of a new system and processes has meant that no Biometrics could be taken during this development period.

‘However, the Nationality Service has continued to accept applications from those wishing to submit their applications, acknowledging that Biometrics could only be taken once the new system and processes were in place.

‘All applicants have been informed at the time they submitted their applications to the counter that the biometrics process was suspended.’

Mr Wannenburgh also asked Dr Allinson how many people have been naturalised per year since 2021.

He revealed the number of people granted of British Citizenship on the Isle of Man by calendar year over the last four years.

In 2021 there were 128; 105 in 2022; 133 in 2023; 113 in 2024 and 19 so far in 2025.

That means that, over the past four years, 498 people have been naturalised in the Isle of Man.

Dr Allinson explained: ‘Applications to the Nationality Service have been paused since April 2024, whilst new systems and processes have been in development.

‘The Nationality Service are now working to progress these applications through the new system and process.’

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