Page 6 - Visa

Britain's regulator seeks to rein in Mastercard and Visa fees on retailers

Cards are the most popular form of payment in Britain, with 27.1 billion transactions in 2022 worth 954 billion pounds

UK PM Sunak faces revolt over plans to scrap Graduate Route visa: Report

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is considering restrictions to the UK's post-study visa which allows graduates to stay on and work for up to two years after their degree course as part of efforts to curb soaring legal migration figures despite strong opposition from some of his ministers, a report claims on Sunday. According to The Observer' newspaper, Sunak is facing a Cabinet revolt over plans to scrap the Graduate Route scheme, the definitive factor for choosing UK universities among Indian students who have topped the tally of these post-study visas since it was launched in 2021. Downing Street is said to be considering further restricting or even ending the route despite the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) declaring it was not being abused and that it should continue as it helps UK universities make up for financial losses on the domestic front. Sunak is now finding himself caught between the demands of right-wingers with one eye on the Tory leadership and Conservativ

India, Moldova sign visa waiver pact for diplomatic passports holders

India and Moldova on Friday signed an agreement which after coming into force, will allow diplomatic and official passports holders of either country to travel to the other without a visa, the Ministry of External Affairs said. This agreement will add "further momentum" to the friendly and cordial relations between the two countries, it said. "Pavan Kapoor, Secretary (West), Ministry of External Affairs of the Republic of India and Ana Taban, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Moldova, on behalf of their respective governments, signed an agreement on visa waiver for diplomatic and official passports, today on 10 May," the statement said. This agreement, after coming into force "will allow holders of diplomatic and official passports of either country to travel to the other, without a visa", it said.

Britain claims drastic drop in student dependents after visa crackdown

The UK government has welcomed a significant fall in the number of dependents, or close family members such as a spouse and children, accompanying overseas students after its crackdown on student visas from early this year. In an update issued on Tuesday from January to March this year compared to the same period in 2023, the Home Office said that dependents had drastically fallen by almost 80 per cent amid over 26,000 fewer student visa applications made. Indians have led the international student visa tally in recent years and these figures indicate that a downward trend noted earlier this year is likely to mean fewer Indian students choosing UK universities. Under rules effective from January, most international students except those on research courses cannot bring along family members. They can no longer switch their visa either before completing their course, which the government claimed misused the student visa as a backdoor to work in the UK amid a wider Home Office clampdow

Visa results beat Wall Street estimates on resilient consumer spending

Credit card giant American Express also beat expectations for first-quarter profit last week

Explained: How Indians can now get five-year, multi-entry Schengen visa

Schengen Visa 'cascade' regime: After successfully utilising the two-year visa, Indian travellers can expect to get a five-year Schengen visa, provided their passport has enough remainining vaildity

Chinese Visa scam: Court grants interim bail to three accused persons

Congress MP Karti Chidambaram has not moved the bail application at the trial court

For summer holiday, discover 8 countries with visa-on-arrival for Indians

For their summer holidays, Indians can travel to 43 countries that provide visa-on-arrival

US banks to see modest hit from deal to lower swipe fee by Visa, Mastercard

The antitrust settlement announced on Tuesday is one of the largest in U.S. history. If approved by court, it would resolve most claims in a nationwide litigation that began nearly two decades ago

Mastercard, Visa reach $30 billion settlement over credit card fees

The antitrust settlement announced on Tuesday is one of the largest in U.S. history, and upon court approval would resolve claims in litigation that began in 2005

Higher IELTS, new test for Indians: Australia tightens student visa rules

Securing a place to study in Australia is becoming increasingly challenging. Here's what prospective Indian students need to know

Chinese visa scam: Court summons Karti Chidambaram after ED chargesheet

A Delhi court on Tuesday summoned Congress MP Karti Chidambaram and others in a money laundering case linked to an alleged Chinese visa scam. Special Judge M K Nagpal summoned the accused while taking cognisance of a charge sheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The judge directed Karti Chidambaram, his former chartered accountant S Bhaskararaman and six others, including representatives of a few companies, to appear before the court on April 5. The accused also include Padam Dugar, Vikas Makharia, Mansoor Siddiqi, Dugar Housing Ltd, Advantage Strategic Consulting Pvt Ltd and Talwandi Sabo Power Ltd. The ED has registered a money laundering case against the accused in the alleged scam pertaining to issuance of visa to 263 Chinese nationals in 2011 when his father P Chidambaram was the Union home minister. The ED said the actual magnitude or volume of the processed or laundered amount of money in the case was yet to be established and the alleged payment of Rs 50 lakh br

Increased travel connectivity, visa waivers help boost tourism to SE Asia

The prevailing influence of Korean pop culture, often referred to as the 'Hallyu Wave' has significantly captivated Indian audiences, thus boosting travel to the country

21 Indians arrested in Sri Lanka for working on tourist visa: Report

Sri Lankan authorities have arrested 21 Indian nationals for illegally operating an online marketing centre in the island nation, violating the relaxed tourist visa norms, a media report said on Wednesday. The 21 Indian men in the age group of 24 to 25, who were in Sri Lanka on tourist visas, were taken into custody on Tuesday by the Department of Immigration and Emigration, the Daily Mirror newspaper reported. After a preliminary inquiry, the department raided a rented house in Negombo city, where those arrested were found operating an online marketing centre. The house had been converted into an office space where computers and other devices had been installed, the report said. Under Sri Lanka's law, those who visit the island nation on tourist visas are prohibited from engaging in any paid or unpaid work. The Indian nationals had used the free-of-charge visa condition that Sri Lanka has granted to a set of countries till March 31 as part of an ongoing pilot project to promote ..

RBI tightens norms for credit, debit cards used with business accounts

Last month, the RBI had ordered Visa to stop using an unauthorized route to make business-to-business card payments which used fintech companies as an intermediary

RBI directs credit card issuers to give users choice of other networks

RBI on Wednesday said issuers of credit cards shall not enter into any arrangement or agreement with card networks that restrain customers from availing the services of other networks

Visa, Western Union expand their partnership to more than 40 nations

Past iterations of the partnership focused on serving consumers in North America and Europe, said Chris Newkirk, Visa's head of commercial and money-movement solutions

British Airways official on the run in India over £3 mn visa racket: Report

British police are working with their Indian counterparts to trace a British Airways supervisor believed to be on the run in India after his role in an alleged GBP 3 million visa scam from over five years came to light, according to a UK media report on Tuesday. The Sun' newspaper reports that the unnamed 24-year-old suspect worked at Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport and is said to have charged customers GBP 25,000 per trip to abuse a loophole and fly them across the British Airways (BA) network without crucial visa documents. British police are now said to be working with their Indian counterparts to try to trace the man, who reportedly vanished with his partner a BA ground services staffer after he was arrested on January 6 and released on bail. He is believed to have flown out to India where he has reportedly bought several properties. As part of his fiddle, he got clients, most from India, to fly to the UK on a temporary visitor visa where he arranged for them to jet elsewhere,

EU council adopts euro instant payments rules to take on Visa, Mastercard

The Council added that the new rule would factor in countries outside of the euro-zone economic bloc

Visa applications to beat pre-Covid levels in 2024, says VFS Global

In 2023, visa application volumes saw a 16 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth compared to 2022, taking it to 93 per cent of pre-pandemic levels of 2019