UK visa application process made easier for Kenyans

The UK visa application process for Kenyans has been made easier in order to get approval through an initiative spearheaded by the British High Commission in Nairobi.

According to the British High Commissioner Rob Macaire, the UK visa application grant-rate could be raised significantly if the UK immigration officers vet the applications before they are paid for and lodged.

The rate of UK visa application approval is not meeting its potential because a number of Kenyans are not aware of how to complete them accurately. Macaire said now the onus should be on the government to help Kenyans with lodging their UK visa application.

"So we want to ensure that potential applicants know where to get the information they need to make a successful application," The Nation reported Macaire as saying at a meeting in a Nairobi hotel.

The commissioner also reassured Kenyans that the new UK immigration system and its tougher controls on bogus colleges are working to protect vulnerable international students from exploitation. He hopes that this, in conjunction with the free UK visa application assessment, will encourage Kenyans to study in the UK.

"We have also introduced a more advanced system of accrediting colleges that offer places to foreign students, which should provide better protection from bogus colleges and fraudulent agents. In the longer term, we hope to see far fewer student visa applications being refused and more genuine students benefiting from education in the UK," he said.

The UK Visa Bureau is an independent consulting company specialising in UK visa application.