New Visitor Visa Rules Posted On Bbc Today

[Springman]

Tourist visa times 'to be halved' New measures are being introduced to tighten the visa system Proposals to cut the time tourists from outside the EU can stay in the UK from six months to three are expected to be announced by ministers. Plans to make UK families sponsor relatives visiting from outside the EU by paying a cash bond are also proposed in a consultation paper.

If the relatives do not return home, the money is forfeited.

Campaigners said the plan was "unfair" on poorer families. The Tories attacked it as a "headline grabbing gimmick".

The proposals are aimed at those who deliberately overstay or work illegally in the UK.

'Headline-grabbing'

In addition to shortening standard tourist visas, the government might introduce special occasion visas for events such as the London Olympics in 2012.

Applications for visas have gone up by about 50% in the past five years and more than 2 million were issued last year.

The Conservatives dismissed the proposals as a "gimmick" and repeated their call for an annual limit on immigration.

Keith Vaz, chairman of the home affairs select committee, said there was nothing wrong with the proposals in principle.

But he added: "We need to look at the economic basis of this. Clearly poor people will not be able to visit the UK because they won't have a relative here who'll be able to afford to sponsor them."

'Unfair'

Habib Rahman, chief executive of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the new measures would discriminate against poorer families.

"The government is trying to deter people to come for family visits. This is unfair."

The proposals are expected to be set out in a consultation document to be unveiled by immigration minister Liam Byrne.

The government has already announced other changes to the visa system which Mr Byrne described as the "biggest shake-up of the immigration system in history".

They included a points-based system for economic migrants and the tightening of procedures for people bringing spouses into the country.

Market stalls

Earlier, the Sunday Telegraph reported how £36m was paid to failed asylum seekers to enable them to set up businesses back in their own countries.

Since 1999, more than 23,000 migrants have received up to £4,000 each under the voluntary assisted return and reintegration programme.

According to the paper, the funding has enabled people to set up clothes factories or market stalls back home.

Shadow home secretary David Davis said the government was resorting to "bribing them to leave - with the taxpayer picking up the bill".

But the Home Office said the programme - part-funded by the EU - was cheaper than forcibly returning failed asylum seekers which costs £11,000 per case.

Do you have family visiting the UK from outside the EU? What are your thoughts on the possible introduction of a bond? Should tourist visas be limited to three months? Send us your comments using the form below:

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Tourist visa times to be halved

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