Tourist visa times 'to be halved'

[olisun]

another thing is, according to the current practice, the visitor visa's valid date starts from when it's issued, not when people arrive in the UK, so visitors can only stay in the UK for 2-2.5 months or so at the longest.

This is the most annoying change which caught me by surprise, last time my mom came to the UK

[Hernancortes]

Yet another way of keeping the dark skinned hordes out.
This government's immigration policy has always and will remain dearly beloved.
It is hard enough for people in Africa to get a visa to visit Blighty, this new proposal along with other insidious legislation is really meant to restrict migrants from certain continents.
When the UK economy suffers, maybe they will realise attempting to please the irrational and right wing voters in the country wasn't a bright idea.

[VictoriaS]

Yet another way of keeping the dark skinned hordes out.
This government's immigration policy has always and will remain dearly beloved.
It is hard enough for people in Africa to get a visa to visit Blighty, this new proposal along with other insidious legislation is really meant to restrict migrants from certain continents.
When the UK economy suffers, maybe they will realise attempting to please the irrational and right wing voters in the country wasn't a bright idea.

I couldn't agree more. It's shameful.


Victoria

[olisun]

This government's immigration policy has always and will remain dearly beloved.
It is hard enough for people in Africa to get a visa to visit Blighty, this new proposal along with other insidious legislation is really meant to restrict migrants from certain continents.

That's rubbish... There are so many cases of people from Australia etc who are having a hard time trying to sort out their spouse visa's etc because they have been too lazy to collect evidence or have been ignorant of the immigration laws...

When the UK economy suffers, maybe they will realise attempting to please the irrational and right wing voters in the country wasn't a bright idea.

Currently there is more supply than demand and even in the future IF the economy suffers, the govt. will relax the rules and I am 100% sure, there are and will be hundreds of candidates out there waiting to come to the UK who don't care a damn about settling permanently in the UK and just want to earn some money.

[Dawie]

It's been made clear that the bond will only apply to visitors to the UK who cannot finance their trip in their own right, i.e. poor people.

Also, this bond can only possibly work with visa-nationals who are visiting family members in the UK.

[John]

Dawie, not saying you are wrong, but is it that clear cut?

Are you saying that a person would not need to pay a deposit where they successfully sponsor someone such as a girlfriend/boyfriend to come to the UK, someone that they are not yet even engaged to? That person is clearly not (maybe, yet) a family member.

[Dawie]

What I am saying is that a family member who can afford to visit the UK and finance their own trip does not require sponsorship in the first place, so a bond does not even come into play.

If your girlfriend/boyfriend was coming to the UK as a visitor to come visit you and they had enough money to pay for their trip and apply for a visit visa (if they required one) in their right, why would they need you to sponsor them?

Sponsorship (for a visit visa) is only relevant where there is doubt about a visa applicants financial situation.

[John]

OK so are we agreed that where the boyfriend/girlfriend could not pay for their own support and got that support from someone in the UK, that even though they are not a family member that a deposit would still be required?

Example .... and absolutely not suggesting that there is currently anything like a 100% success rate for such applications ... but nevertheless it is not at all unusual for say a British man to successfully sponsor his Thai girlfriend to visit the UK for a few months. He would provide accommodate and pay for her keep while she was here in the UK. The British Embassy in Bangkok issue many such visitor visas per year in these circumstances.

So it seems to me that in future the deposit will need to be paid for such applications.

[Dawie]

I would agree with that. It seems to me that the Home Office's thinking is that anyone who does not have the resources to finance their own trip to the UK is a potential overstay risk, even with a sponsor.

It might be that in future that people who want to sponsor an individual to visit the UK might want to reconsider whether or not the invididual they want to sponsor can apply for the visa in their own right and with their own resources, without the support of a sponsor if possible.

One could argue, I suppose, that a person who isn't able to finance their own trip without a sponsor shouldn't really be travelling at all if they cannot be self-sufficient.

So in conclusion, my feeling is that if you have to sponsor someone, you will have to pay a bond.

[VictoriaS]

Sorry, but nothing has been decided at all, it is still at the consultation stage.

And the consultation paper seems to be reocmmending that all visits be sponsored, so whether the person is financing themselves or not, the sponsor has to put up the bond.

But as I said, this is all just a suggestion at the moment.

Victoria

[John]

One could argue, I suppose, that a person who isn't able to finance their own trip without a sponsor shouldn't really be travelling at all if they cannot be self-sufficient.

I would certainly not argue that! It would effectively stop all but a small percentage of people applying for visitor visas at all, from quite a few countries of the world. The result would be that families would be kept apart, and I would say, totally unnecessarily.

My wife came here from Thailand in 2001. Prior to that, no she did not come here as a visitor, but had she applied to do so, and a pay-for-yourself rule had been in place, well I have to say that as a College Teacher of 11 years standing she earned the equivalent of just £2200 pa! And whilst that was enough to live on in Thailand, there was hardly any ability to save up for airfares and certainly not to pay for her stay in the UK.

Her parents have visited us. They were granted visitor visas, no problem, and duly returned before the expiry date. Both are retired, they both had very good jobs in Thailand ... for example my father-in-law was a Headteacher in a school ... and by Thai standards their Government pensions are good and they live a reasonable life there. But again, absolutely no ability to save sufficient for pay for their "board and keep" whilst visiting the UK.

We are quite prepared to pay deposits should they visit us again, because there is no doubt that they would return prior to the expiry date of their visas.