UK to charge an immigration bond from high risk visitors from countries like Sri Lanka
The United Kingdom will charge an immigration bond from persons visiting that country from Sri Lanka and five other countries as a measure of preventing visa abuse, such as overstaying.
However, the bond which is set at £3000 per adult will only be charged from highest risk applicants.
“We will not require all visitors from the selected pilot countries to pay a bond. The number of bonds issued during the pilot will be limited”, announced a statement issued by the UK embassy in Colombo.
The embassy says, the project which will commence in November this year will run for 12 months as a pilot project.
“The purpose of this pilot is to test the effectiveness of bonds as a deterrent against visa abuse, such as overstaying”, the embassy statement further added.
This pilot scheme will operate in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nigeria and Ghana.