NRI Corner 3

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[url="http://www.telegraphindia.com//1100131/jsp/nation/story_120"]UK student visa halt in north India[/url]

New Delhi, Jan. 30: Britain has temporarily suspended accepting visa applications from north India, suspecting “abuse” of the system because of an unprecedented spurt in student-visa seekers from that region.



The UK Border Agency, which enforces Britain’s immigration and customs regulations, has instructed its visa-application centres in New Delhi, Chandigarh and Jalandhar to stop accepting applications for student visas from Monday.



The sudden spike in the number of student-visa applications at the three centres led the British high commission to suspect that not all the applicants were genuine students.



The three centres had received about 1,000 student-visa applications from October to December 2007. This number increased to 1,800 in the same period in 2008 and climbed to 13,500 in the corresponding period last year.



“Some applicants are trying to abuse the visa procedure to get entry into the UK for purpose other than studies. We cannot allow this to happen,” Chris Dix, the regional director of the UK Border Agency, said.



Dix said certain education agents in north India were misleading students by telling them they could enter the UK for other purposes by using a student visa.



Sources said the attacks on Indians in Australia could have discouraged Indians from going to that country and prompted them to look towards Britain. Indians, particularly from the northern states, had migrated to Australia in large numbers in the last three years.



Richard Stagg, the UK’s high commissioner to India, said: “Some applicants are attempting to abuse our visa processes and we will not let that happen. This temporary measure is designed to protect genuine students, professional agents and good education providers from anyone who is not currently playing by the rules.”



“The temporary suspension will allow the UK Border Agency to continue to scrutinise applications thoroughly and to manage the visa process efficiently for all our customers in north India,” Dix said. He promised to review the suspension in a month’s time.



Visa application centres in western and southern India will, however, continue their operations as usual.