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United Kingdom to tighten visa rules
LONDON, Dec 19, 2007: Britain unveiled plans on Tuesday to tighten visa
rules for tourists from outside Europe, drawing protests that it would hit
immigrant families with visitors from countries such as India, AFP
reported.
Cash bond: Under the proposals, families would have to pay a
cash bond to ensure that visitors left the country, while the standard six-month
tourist visa would be cut in half to three months.
The bond, which would
be refunded when the visa-holder left the country, could be up to £1,000
(ª1,400, $2,015), according to the plans set out by the Home Office, Britain's
interior ministry.
Immigration Minister Liam Byrne said the bond would
not be applied in every case, but only where it was considered there was a risk
of visitors not going home. "Tougher checks abroad mean we keep risky people
out," he said. "By next spring we'll check everyone's fingerprints when they
apply for a visa. Now we're proposing a financial guarantee as well, not for
everyone, but where we think there's a risk.
But campaigners said the
measure risks harming families from former British colony countries including
India, who regularly have relatives such as grandparents visiting for more than
three months, or for events like weddings.
Habib Rahman, head of the
Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, condemned the plans as
"discriminatory".
"It will create hardship for families ... This means
that only people with fat wallets will be able to bring their families," he told
BBC radio.
Former minister Keith Vaz, whose Leicester constituency has a
large immigrant population, agreed. "The real problem with the cultural issues
that we have here is that people don't come singly for weddings," he told the
BBC. "If you have for example a big wedding in Leicester, you are dealing with
20 people coming and therefore if you have to put up a bond of £1,000 for each,
it's a huge sum of money," he added.
The plans, contained in a
consultation paper, also include proposals for a new business and specialist
visa - such as for artists visiting the country - and a visa for one-off events
like the London Olympics in 2012.
"Our aim is to make the system more
secure, but also to ensure that we maintain the UK's position as a destination
of choice for tourists," Reuters quoted Byrne as saying.
The UK
government has announced stricter immigration rules including a points-based
system, which will restrict entry to those who have the skills that Britain
needs. Daily Times
Your Comments
"Hey, If someone stay in uk more than 6 months as a family vister,after 2 or 3 years he comes back,can he enter again uk while his passport has lost in uk."
Name: Javid
Email: bismillah_121@yahoo.com
City, Country: pakistan
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