Indoz Overseas Blog

The UK is considering reforming its existing visitor visa scheme in order to entice more Chinese and other visitors to its shores.

Currently Chinese and certain other overseas visitors to Europe are required to obtain separate visas for add on trips to the UK. Tour operators and the wider tourism industry however have argued that the requirements to obtain an additional visa and the rising costs and procedures involved in processing a UK visa have acted as a ‘disincentive to include short visits to the UK in tours majoring on continental Europe. The Foreign Office is therefore examining the feasibility of the UK entering the Schengen visa system, a single visa covering 15 European countries, including the UK’s key tourism competitors, France, Italy, Germany and Spain.

With particular reference to Chinese tourists, UK Consul-General in Shanghai, Ms Carma Elliot advised:

“Most Chinese tourists want to go on a continental tour. We cannot currently capture that. But we are busily exploring the options…whether we could offer visas as part of a wider European tour.”

Lobbying for change, Visit Britain stated that in 2007, whilst France attracted some 750,000 Chinese tourists, the UK saw just 150,000. If the UK were to join the Schengen system however, a dramatic increase in the number of Chinese tourists would be expected, bringing with them valuable tourist dollars.

UK Trade and Investment Director for China, Mr Alastair Morgan said:

“We think there’s a lot of future potential for tourism from China. But at the moment we have far more business visitors. We would like the UK to be performing better…”

If you are interested in UK Visas, contact Indoz Overseas.

On 27 November 2008 the United Kingdom launched Tier 2 and Tier 5 of its “five-tier” points based immigration system. Tier 1, the entry route for highly skilled migrants was implemented earlier this year.

Tier 2 covers employer-sponsored immigration and replaces the UK Work Permit scheme. It also covers long-term appointments for ministers of religion, admissions for professional sportspeople, and intra-company transfers.

People applying under Tier 2 as general skilled workers will receive points based on their employer’s sponsorship, their skill level, and other factors. People applying under Tier 2 as ministers of religion and sportspeople will face similar requirements as well as criteria specific to their category.

Tier 5 covers temporary employment for sportsmen, performers, charity workers, religious workers, government-authorized exchange workers, and international agreement workers. Like Tier 2, sponsorship by an employer, government, or other relevant organization is required.

With the addition of Tiers 2 and 5, the new five-tier points based system is 60 percent operational. Tier 4 for foreign students is expected to start sometime in the first quarter of 2009.

Tier 3, for unskilled workers, has been suspended indefinitely in favor of workers from within the European Union. However, employers who depend on these workers feel that the EU cannot provide enough workers to fill labour shortages, so there is still a possibility that Tier 3 will see the light of day eventually.