UK Visas for Indians will be processed more quickly and be cheaper, David Cameron has said.
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13 August 2010
UK Visas for Indians to become cheaper, issued quicker
David Cameron has promised to make the system of issuing visitors visas to Indians quicker and cheaper, as part of a scheme to increase revenue from tourism.
The Prime Minister made the promise while speaking to UK tourism industry representatives yesterday on the need to increase Britain's revenue from tourism.
"Measures to help the industry would be speeding up the process of getting visitors' visas for the UK in India and China," he said.
India is the main source country from any Asian country for tourists, having overtaken Japan, and the 10th largest source of all visitors to the UK.
Of the 30 million visitors coming to Britain annually, an estimated 400,000 are from India.
Prime Minister Cameron even indicated that the UK Visa fee may be lowered to make travel to the UK more attractive for Indians.
The promise follows pressure from London retail groups in West End and Knightsbridge for the government to ease visa formalities because of the shopping dollars brought by well-off Indian tourists.
David Cameron said, "I want to see us in the top five destinations in the world. But that means being much more competitive internationally."
According to UN figures, Britain is in sixth place, behind France, the US, Spain, China and Italy.
The UK Visa Bureau is an independent consulting company specialising in helping people with their UK Visa applications to the British Embassy.
