UK’s preferred agency scheme
The United Kingdom Visas and Immigration (UKVI) office will launch a preferred agency scheme to facilitate visa applications through trusted and accredited travel agents in India.
James Brokenshire, Immigration Minister, United Kingdom, announced the 16th visa application centre (VAC) in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh to apply for a visa to the UK and Europe. "We have been reflecting on the feedback from our partners and applicants and thus have announced a number of changes to facilitate the visa process for the India market," says Brokenshire.
UKVI has enhanced the eligibility criteria for super-priority visas to those applying for a visit or work visa. "The eligibility criteria for the 3-5 day priority visa service will also be expanded allowing more applicants in India the opportunity to get a visa decision faster," adds Brokenshire.
The new online application can be accessed from www. gov. uk/ apply- ukvisa and is a shorter form than the form on Visa4UK with questions written in plain English which will be translated into Hindi, Tamil and Gujarati later. The service is mobile device friendly, enabling application forms to
UKVI will also increase the visa fee by 2 per cent from April for study and visit visa applications. Explaining the process, he says the visa fee hike is an annual norm and is normally implemented post the financial year. UKVI is expected to introduce a preferred agency programme in India targeting larger bookings through the agents. Brokenshire says, "We are piloting the scheme with approximately 50 Indian travel agents to test the elements and are working on steps to roll out the scheme to more agents. We expect a third of our visa applications to come through the preferred agent scheme in the future. We will train agents so that they can verify applicants on UKVI’s behalf and ensure the applications submitted are genuine” said Brokenshire. The new scheme will allow UKVI to work more closely with trusted agents who will be accountable for the applications they verify, added Brokenshire.