UK visa bond leaves Punjabis aghast
Thursday, 27/06/2013
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20130627/punjab.htm#1
Chandigarh : The proposed visa bond for Indians visiting the UK does not have the endorsement of the British Government. It is only an internal note circulated within UK’s Home Affairs Department and has not been considered by the British Government.
A senior official in the Indian High Commission at London told The Tribune that following the furore in India over the British Government’s proposed pilot scheme targeted at visitors from six countries, including India, the issue was taken up by the commission with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) as well as during the meeting of Commerce Minister Anand Sharma with the UK Secretary of State for Business Dr Vince Cable.
“We have been assured that the proposal to charge 3,000 GBP from Indian visitors to the UK was mooted for a pilot project but has not being considered by the UK Government,” said the official.
The proposal has caused a furore across the country, especially Punjab. The UK has a huge Indian diaspora. Indians are London’s largest non-white ethnic minority group. As of now, 1.5 million people from Punjab are residing in the UK, of which 80 per cent are from Jalandhar.
About 30,000 people from Jalandhar alone visit the UK every month. Rough estimates say that over 40,000 Indians are studying in the UK. In view of the new era in the UK-India trade, the number of Indian businessmen visiting the UK could grow manifold.
Information available on the Visit Britain website reveals that over three lakh Indians visit the UK each year. In 2011, over 3.55 lakh Indians visited the UK.
Members of the Punjabi community here are angry that inspite of the value addition by the Indian diaspora in the UK, they are being deterred from entering the UK by harsh regulations.
The president of the NRI Sabha, Punjab, Jasvir Singh Gill, said 80 per cent of the Indians in the UK are from Jalandhar and nearby areas. "When the visa is issued after proper scrutiny, why this visa bond," he asked. He said the NRI Sabha would take up the matter at the appropriate level. Kuljit Singh Hayer, who runs a travel agency, said if the UK Government wanted to introduce a visa bond, it should be for all countries.
The UK link
An estimated 1.5 million people from Punjab are residing in the UK, of whom 80 per cent are from Jalandhar and nearby areas
An estimated 30,000 people from Jalandhar visit the UK every month
Over 40,000 Indians are studying in the UK
When the visa is issued after proper scrutiny, why this visa bond? The NRI Sabha will take up the matter at the appropriate level
