3,000-pound cash bond for UK visa row

Were you consulted on visa bonds, British MP panel asks Manmohan

London, July 21
A high-powered British parliamentary committee has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asking if he was consulted over a controversial plan to introduce a hefty 3,000-pound cash bond for “high-risk” visitors from India.

Under the pilot scheme announced by British Home Secretary Theresa May last month, citizens of India, along with those of Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Ghana and Sri Lanka, could be asked to pay a 3,000-pound cash bond in a bid to prevent them overstaying their visa.

The House of Commons' Home Affairs Select Committee (HASC) -- a group of cross-party MPs chaired by British-Indian Labour MP Keith Vaz -- has been looking into the proposed visa and immigration system that will be enforced from November this year.

"I would be most grateful if you could clarify if your government has been consulted by the UK Government on the bonds pilot. As part of the committee's remit, we have an ongoing inquiry into the work of UK visas and immigration," wrote Vaz, who has previously categorised the scheme as "unfair and discriminatory".

Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma had raised India's concerns over the issue with his British counterparts while on a visit to the UK soon after the policy was announced.

Since then, the UK Government has stressed that the scheme will affect only a handful of high-risk individuals and will be fully re-assessed at the end of the pilot in 2014.

Responding to a similar letter form HSAC, Nigeria accused the UK of racial discrimination. The Nigerian Ambassador to Britain said his country is "not favourably disposed to the proposal as it will affect a good number of Nigerians visiting the UK, even in spite of assurances to the contrary”. "We view it as discriminatory and targeted at only non-white members of the Commonwealth," ambassador Dalhatu Sarki Tafida said. Meanwhile, the HASC is conducting its own inquiries into the workings of Britain's visa and immigration system. — PTI 

Controversial scheme

* From November, citizens of India, along with those of Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Ghana and Sri Lanka, could be asked to pay a 3,000-pound cash bond to prevent them overstaying their UK visa

* The House of Commons' Home Affairs Select Committee, a group of cross-party MPs chaired by British-Indian Labour MP Keith Vaz, has been looking into the proposed visa system

* Though affected nations have accused the UK Government of racial bias, it has stressed that the scheme will affect only a handful of high-risk individuals.