Mumbai is one of the largest cities in the world and a place of great importance to India and the British Indian population. Why then, has the staggering decision been made by the government to downsize and downgrade the visa operation there?
The majority of visa applications submitted in Mumbai will now be decided upon in New Delhi, 850 miles away, the same distance as the entire length of the United Kingdom.
The friends and families of British Indians depend on an efficient and quick visa service to visit the United Kingdom. In 2013 alone, there were around 360,000 visa applications submitted in India. Every year, Mumbai receives 70-80,000 applications a year, as many as New Delhi, and is one of the busiest visa centres in the world.
With these changes, people’s documents will be sent to another centre to be processed, without a proper interview and without any interaction. People are rightly concerned that any problems with their application will take far longer to resolve.
The only people who will not be affected are those who use the ‘priority’ service, which costs an eye-watering £600! So far, 81,755 out of India’s 1 billion have applied for this service.
To make a decision like this, just to ‘cut costs’ is short-sighted and foolish. They are not worth the inconvenience hundreds of thousands of Indians and their British Indian relatives will suffer.
This is at a time when, both in the UK and in India, there are widespread calls for closer relations between our historically connected countries. The British government has declared a closer relationship with India to be one of their top priorities.
This decision will only harm that commitment and it must be revised.
Dhaka
This is not the only case where short-sighted decisions are causing distress for South Asian communities. In Bangladesh, visa-decision making powers have been removed altogether.
Applications made anywhere in Bangladesh will now also be processed in New Delhi. Dhaka’s High Commission is also being downsized.
For the people in Bangladesh, and the 300,000 people of Bangladeshi origin in the UK, this is being perceived as the British government ‘downsizing’ the importance of our historical relationship.
Moving Forward
In the Home Affairs Select Committee session on the 15th December, I raised these issue with the Home Secretary, Theresa May, and she said the decisions would be looked at.
We need to keep the pressure up. I have tabled Early Day Motion 626 in the House of Commons, expressing my concern with these changes, and calling upon the government to review these decisions. Please contact your MP and urge them to sign it.
I also fully endorse the campaigns launched by Asian Voice to rectify these changes, and the e-petitions which they have set up.
I have no doubt that the downsizing of the Mumbai visa service will severely inconvenience the tens of thousands of people who apply there every year. For the 1.4 million people of Indian origin in the UK, this is simply unacceptable.
Link to the E-Petition http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/73054
