Petition against 3 month visitors visa + £1000 deposit

[hsmpwpilr]

Hi Guys,
Could you take some time to sign this petition asking the govt to reconsider its ludicrous proposal to enforce a 3 month visitors visa + £1000 bond for every overseas visitor.

Please note you will have to furnish a working e-mail address, since on completing the petition, you will receive an email with a link that will have to be clicked on to register your signature to the petition.

please forward this to everyone in your address book who will be affected.
you can cut and paste the following link in your browser.

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/VisaControls/

[Wanderer]

Where's the petition in favour of it? - I think it's a good idea, six months is way too long for a 'visit', that's almost settling...

The bond I'm not so sure about, I reckon it's a good idea for those in the international dating game bringing their supposed paramours to UK to 'test the waters' and them 'disappearing', seen that happen several times...

On the other hand I wouldn't be adverse to it for family if it mean the visa was more or less guaranteed or indeed if the bond not required to be paid up front, sort of like bail!

[balaplus]

I think 6 months for 'family visitor' visa and 3 months for other visitor visas is reasonable.

[Dawie]

hsmpwpilr, it is quite clear from the government's proposals that the £1000 bond will only apply to high risk visitors, i.e. those who do not have the financial means to support themselves and therefore require a sponsor.

Your assertion that it applies to "every overseas visitor" is quite frankly wrong and misleading and does no favours to those who want petitions to be taken seriously by the government. If you are going to petition the government, at least get your facts straight.

[hsmpwpilr]

I have not started this petition. I came to know about it from a friend of mine.

[SYH]

I have not started this petition. I came to know about it from a friend of mine.

So whats your point, of making a qualified statement
Then why ask for signatures if you don't support it

[Edelweiss]

I really don't understand why people on this forum need to be so unfriendly. Nobody is forcing you to sign the petition, so just ignore posts that don't interest you or that you don't agree with.

I applied for a Schengen visa last year and specifically applied for a 6 month visa, not because I wanted to spend 6 months in Europe, but because I could then visit the area more than once during that period without having to go through the drama of booking an appointment, going down to London (I don't live in the South East) and paying for the visa each time. Not all people who apply for longer visas are doing so because they want to 'disappear'.

My understanding is that the bond will also not be for specific people, it will be for people from specific countries. So if a few people from a particular country overstay, then bonds will be introduced for visitors from that country who cannot show sufficient funds or accommodation or whatever rule they want to make up in the future. Correct me if I am wrong, but I do think that this will affect more than just a few people.

[OL7MAX]

I really don't understand why people on this forum need to be so unfriendly.

I could pick holes in the wording of almost every petition. But I agree with the broad sentiment behind this one and I've signed it.

[VictoriaS]

Why not take the time to read the consultation and fill in the request ofr detail information instead? This would be a much better way of getting your opinion considered.

Victoria