UK Drops £3000 Visa Bond

There were indications yesterday that the proposed £3,000 UK visa bond may have been suspended by the United Kingdom government.

According to the Financial Times of London, a government spokesman said: “The government has been considering whether we pilot a bond scheme that would deter people from overstaying the visa. We have decided not to proceed.”

LEADERSHIP recalls that in June this year, the UK government disclosed a plan to impose a  £3,000 bond for first-time visitors from six ‘high-risk’ countries, including Nigeria, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Ghana. This scheme was expected to take effect in November 2013.

According to the UK government, the scheme was to discourage those who enter UK on tourist visas and stay on illegally.

It would also be recalled that when the news of the intended pilot scheme broke in June,it was greeted by furious reactions in Nigeria.

Several attempts made by Leadership d to reach the spokesperson of the British High Commission in  Abuja were fruitless.

A text message   was also sent to a senior official of the communication department, but as at the time of going to press no response had been received.

The scheme was also condemned as “highly discriminatory” by Indian business leaders and UK’s Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg indicated he would block the plans if they were applied in an “indiscriminate way”.

Mr Clegg was quoted as saying: “Of course in a coalition I can stop things”, and added: “I am absolutely not interested in a bond that becomes an indiscriminate way of clobbering people who want to come to this country, and in many respects bring great prosperity and benefits.”

However, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) denounced the plan as “highly discriminatory and very unfortunate”, warning that it could delay agreement on an EU-India trade deal.

“The suggested changes are not only discriminatory they are also against the ‘special relationship’ publicised by the UK government. We share UK’s concern on illegal immigration but surely there are other more effective and non-discriminatory ways to put a check on it,” it said in a statement.

Their complaints were echoed by the chairman of the Commons home affairs select committee, Labour MP Keith Vaz, who described the scheme as “unfair and discriminatory”.