UK Immigration News

Beginning 17 July 2012, UK Tier 4 visa applicants will be eligible to use the UK Border Agency's priority visa service in Malaysia.The priority service is available to eligible Tier 4 applicants who pay an additional fee of 392 Malaysian ringgits (£80) to have their visa application processed ahead of others. UKBA aims to process all applications using the priority service within 3-4 working days of receiving them.

From 16 July 2012 if you are applying for British nationality from outside the UK you will have to send your application forms to the UK Border Agency's office in Liverpool. This change does not apply to residents of Hong Kong who can continue to submit their application at their local British High Commission or British Consulate.

Visit Britain, the UK's main tourism body, says the country is losing billions of pounds in tourist revenue due to its expensive and difficult to navigate visa system. Visit Britain believes that easing UK visitor visa rules "could deliver £2.8bn extra from tourism".Foreign tourism is worth £18bn a year to the UK economy and is the country's third largest generator of foreign income. Prime Minister David Cameron has urged tourism leaders to do more to attract foreign visitors.

From 6 August 2012, the UK Border Agency's visa application centre in Seoul, South Korea, will accept Tier 5 Youth mobility scheme visa applications from South Korean nationals.The UK Border Agency announced last month that South Korean nationals would be added to the UK's Tier 5 youth mobility scheme visa. Under the scheme, 1,000 eligible South Koreans aged between 18 and 30 can live and work in the UK for up to 2 years.

Following the release of a recent report claiming that UK Immigration doesn't know where 150,000 illegal migrants are located, the UKBA insists that they have a clear strategy to identify and remove people who fail to leave the UK when their visas expire.

UK Immigration Minister Damian Green announced that a targeted interview system for Tier 4 student visa applicants will be introduced 30 July and will focus on high-risk applicants. It is not clear yet how UK Immigration will determine who is a high-risk applicant.