India welcomes UK’s decision to scrap visa bond scheme
New Delhi : Britain’s decision to scrap the controversial GBP 3,000 visa bond scheme has brought relief to Indians planning to visit the country. It was to take effect as an experiment from this month, as per a Business Standard report.
The government decided to “not to proceed” with the scheme, which entailed paying a personal cash bond of GBP 3,000 (Rs 2.8 lakh) before entering that country. The project, announced as an experiment, was aimed at addressing concerns on misuse of visas, checking those who overstayed or stayed on. For this, the UK government had categorised some countries as high risk, such as India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nigeria and Ghana.
Anand Sharma, Minister for Commerce & Industry, Government of India, had protested against the move during meetings with his British counterparts. Indian industry had called it “discriminatory and unfortunate”.
James Bevan, UK High Commissioner to India, said, “The UK wants the brightest and the best to help create jobs and growth that will enable Britain to compete in the global race. So, for example, if you are an overseas businessperson seeking to invest and trade with world-class businesses, one of the thousands of legitimate students keen to study at our first-class universities or a tourist visiting our world class attractions, be in no doubt Britain is open for business.”
David Cameron, Prime Minister, United Kingdom has said that the GBP 3,000 visa bond scheme was never targeted at India. “It was never targeted at India,” Cameron said ahead of his third visit in two years to India on November 14. “It was an idea suggested within government but we decided not to go ahead with the idea…We want people from India to visit Britain,” he added. The scheme was announced in June.
Marcus Winsley, Director (Press and Communications), British High Commission, said, “The decision took into account all factors. Our visa application system in India is the largest in the world.” – TBM
