The Indian High Commission in the UK has begun enforcing a rule that requires British citizens attend visa centres in-person, causing wait times for tourists looking to travel to India.
Earlier, visas brought by travel agents were processed in batches, which resulted in faster turnarounds. The High Commission said the in-person visa application rule was aimed at preventing travel agents from illegally charging fees to get visas processed for travellers to India.
Media reports said enforcement of this rule has affected the travel plans of British tourists to India.
The visa delay faced by British tourists is similar to what Indians looking to travel to Britain have long been facing.
The UK High Commissioner to India Alex Ellis apologised to Indian citizens for the visa delays and advised people to buy airline tickets only after they get their visas.
The Indian High Commission dismissed claims that the visa rule change was sudden, reiterating that individual visa applicants have always been expected to apply in-person at the mission's outsourced VFS Global centres in London.
Amrit Singh, co-founder and managing director of UK tour operator TransIndus, was quoted by travel media company Skift as saying that there were a set of visa companies who would enter without an appointment, with 20 or 30 passports. “They were being processed. All of a sudden, somebody higher up has realized that this is breaking the rules. So they’ve put a stop to it,” he told Skift.
“It was a casual arrangement (before) that the visa services carved out for themselves, with the local offices. I don’t think it was a formal arrangement sanctioned by the local High Commission,” Singh told Skift.
On social media, some users suggested that reason for the insistence on in-person visa applications could be part of the Indian government’s retaliation to UK home secretary Suella Braverman’s comments about Indian migrants who “overstay” their visa in the UK.
“I have concerns about having an open borders migration policy with India because I don’t think that’s what people voted for with Brexit,” Braverman said, branding Indians as the “largest group of people who overstay” their visas in the UK.
The enforcement of the in-person rule now threatens to derail holiday plans for hundreds of Britons—long used to quick visa approvals—booked to fly to India in the coming weeks. It is a situation that Indians have been experiencing for several months.
(With inputs from PTI)
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