UK visas to be issued from New Delhi

The United Kingdom has said its embassies across the world would start ‘checking fingerprints’ of all aspirants seeking UK visas to travel to the country in what its Home Secretary Jacqui Smith termed as the “biggest changes to British immigration policy for a generation”.

The new visa regulation -- which comes amidst ‘radical changes’ made to country’s immigration system including the way foreign nationals seek British citizenship so as to “make sure that the country only takes in the brightest and the best”, would, however, not affect Nepali visa aspirants as the British embassy here has stopped issuing visas in Kathmandu to Nepalis effective from Monday.

According to the new policy of the UK government, Nepalis seeking entry into the UK will from now on have apply to the British High Commission in New Delhi as it has been authorized to decide whether or not to issue visas to them.

British Ambassador to Nepal Dr Andrew Hall had conveyed the UK government’s new decision to Foreign Secretary Gyan Chandra Acharya last Friday.

The decision to issue visas from New Delhi comes as part of UK government’s new policy under a global project through which it plans to issue visas from selected regional posts across the world by 2011 A.D

The timing of the decision is especially significant as it comes at a time when India is said to be increasingly active in Nepal’s internal affairs, with observers saying that it [decision to issue visas for Nepalis from New Delhi] might possibly give more reasons to believe that the west sees Nepal from the “Indian perspective”.

Mitra Pariyar, political officer at the British embassy, recently told an English daily that Nepali visa aspirants might have to wait longer for visa confirmation than before when it was delivered form Kathmandu. Similarly, Nepalis seeking British visas will not have to face visa interviews nor will they have to visit New Delhi following the decision, as VFS Global, an officially authorized agency in Kathmandu, would oversee the application process, collect the documents and send them directly to New Delhi for further decision.

Nepalis foreign ministry officials were not immediately available for comments on the issue. nepalnews.com ag Feb 22 08

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