UK to introduce new visa centre in Ahmedabad

AHMEDABAD: The United Kingdom is finally gearing up to compete with the United States in providing visa services to Gujaratis right at their doorstep.
Visa applications for tourists, students, skilled workers and immigrants will be accepted in Ahmedabad when the British High Commission opens its counselling office by June next year.
The Commission had been talking of opening an office for more than two years but had deferred the plan time and again.However, with a new plan which is presently in the pipeline, the British Deputy High Commission in Mumbai is about to open an application centre at Pune apart from Ahmedabad.
Joint head of the visa section at the Deputy High Commission, Rafi Husain, who is attending the UK education fair in Ahmedabad says that they will introduce a new system of visa application which will mostly be up and running by June 2003. "These centres will look after the administrative visa procedures and will guide the applicants in filing applications supported with relevant documents."
This pilot system will be introduced to ensure that visa applicants from Gujarat do not have to endure long queues while applying for a visa, he says.
The centre will assist applicants from Gujarat for a variety of visas, including the Highly Skilled Migration Programme (HSMP). Visa aspirants from Gujarat will be able to submit their applications at the centre apart from paying visa fees; completing pre-scrutiny formalities; and receiving appointment letter indicating the date and time of the interview at the British Deputy High Commission in Mumbai.
Applicants who qualify under drop box facility criteria and can be exempted from a personal interview need not go to Mumbai. "However, this centre will not be involved in adjudication process, that is deciding whether to issue a visa or not," he adds.
The British Deputy High Commission has planned to initiate steps in this direction to eliminate the stress and long queues involved in the visa application process, he says. It had planned to open offices in Ahmedabad and Pune because a large chunk of visa applications comes from these two cities in comparison to other small cities in western India.
These administrative changes are required to manage the rush of visa applications from western India. During this year, to manage the rush of student visas, the British Deputy High Commission had to temporarily withdraw the medical check-up procedures that the students going to the UK had to undergo earlier. "This change was a temporary measure, which was introduced to handle the flow of student visa applications. The Commission had issued 1450 student visas during September. A backlog had occurred because it had offered restricted visa services from July to the end of August," he adds.