ugnet_: UPDATE OF U.K IMMIGRATION LAWS

[Edward Mulindwa]

TIGHTER VISA REGIMES TO IMPROVE BORDER CONTROL Home Office Reference: 280/2003 - Date: 15 Oct 2003 11:01 Visa regimes are being tightened to help ensure the integrity of the UK�s borders, the Home Office announced today. From midnight tonight, nationals of Angola, Bangladesh, Cameroon, India, Lebanon and Pakistan will need visas to travel through the UK. Previously, people from these countries have required visas to visit the UK, but have been able to travel without one if they pass through on their way to a third country. The tightening of the rules is in response to attempts by some of these nationals to circumvent the UK�s immigration system. Exemptions will be made for certain categories of transit passengers with a low level of immigration risk, and these will be applied to all countries subject to a transit visa regime. We will take steps to minimise the inconvenience to genuine onward passengers. All visa regimes are kept under constant review to ensure they remain effective and appropriate. In light of this, transit visa regimes for Croatia, Libya and Slovakia will be lifted. Home Office Minister, Beverley Hughes, said: "Visa regimes are an important part of border control, reducing opportunities for abuse of immigration laws while easing travel by legitimate passengers. "We are responding to intelligence that some nationals of these countries are using transit visas to flout our immigration controls and either enter the UK illegally or make unfounded asylum applications. "Those who do so have no right to be in the UK and we are committed to stopping them from travelling here in the first place. This year, we have tightened up visa regimes for 18 countries, and this is helping to reduce the number of asylum claims and illegal entrants. "Today�s announcement is part of a package of measures we are using to strengthen UK border controls abroad, including new screening technology and the better use of intelligence to break up criminal trafficking gangs. We also intend to introduce new legislation to deal with those people who destroy their documents." A grace period for those who have already made their travel plans will operate until 23.59 hours on 20 October. Any transit passenger who bought their ticket on or before 15 October will not be refused entry solely on the basis of not holding a valid transit visa. Notes: Nationals of all the countries subject to transit visa regime, will not require one if they are in possession of one of the following: a valid visa for entry to Canada or the United States of America and a valid ticket enabling the holder to travel by air from another country or territory to the country in respect of which such a visa is held via the United Kingdom; a visa for entry to Canada or the United States of America that, if expired, expired no more than two calendar days before the date of arrival in the United Kingdom and a valid ticket enabling the holder to travel by air from the country in respect of which such a visa was held to another country or territory via the United Kingdom; a valid USA-I-551 Permanent Resident Card (Green Card) issued on or after 21 April 1998; a valid Canadian Permanent Resident Card issued on or after 28 June 2002; a valid common format Category D visa for entry to an EEA State; a valid common format residence permit issued by an EEA State pursuant to Council Regulation (EC) No. 1030/2002; a diplomatic or service passport issued by the People's Republic of China; or a diplomatic or official passport issued by the Indian Government. The Mulindwas Communication Group "With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy"             Groupe de communication Mulindwas "avec Yoweri Museveni, l'Ouganda est dans l'anarchie"