Diwali gift: UK scraps visa bond scheme

Indian govt, industry welcome shelving of scheme before it took effect; seen as success for Indian diplomacy, ahead of Cameron's visit

India’s diplomatic efforts showed success on Sunday night, as the government of Britain announced its decision to drop its controversial visa bond scheme. It was to take effect as an experiment from this month.

In a major relief to Indians aspiring to either work or visit there, the  government decided to “not to proceed” with the scheme, which entailed paying a personal cash bond of £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.

UK High Commissioner  to India James Bevan said on Monday: “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.”

The decision was announced almost a week before British Prime Minister David Cameron's visit to India on November 14.

The scheme was announced in June.

Syed Akbaruddin, spokesperson and joint secretary, ministry of external affairs, told Business Standard, “We had articulated our views at the official and political level. They had indicated that these would be taken into account when they take a final decision.”

The British government was “compelled” to scrap the scheme under pressure from our government, said a senior official, who refused to be identified.

“It was Cameron’s Diwali gift to us,” he added.

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.”

He added the bond programme was only discussed as one of the probable ideas to check misuse of British visas and to tackle immigration abuse.

Each year, the high commission in India gets around 400,000 visa applications. In 2012, about 88 per cent were approved. Of these, 56,000 were business visa applications; 97 per cent were approved.

Naina Lal Kidwai, president of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said: “The news is a relief to Indian companies which have been actively eyeing the UK market to invest and do business with. Despite being one of the largest investors in the UK, Indian citizens would have been clubbed in the high-risk category along with other African and Asian countries.”

Apart from business chambers, the Commerce and Industry Minister, Anand Sharma, had protested against the move during meetings with his British counterparts. Indian industry had called it “discriminatory and unfortunate”.