Indians Outraged Over U.K. Visa-Bond Scheme

U.K.'s Conservative-led government in June announced plansÂ to roll out a pilot scheme that will require visitors from "high-risk" countries to put down a steep 3,000 pound ($4,690) deposit before they are allowed to enter the country.

August 17, 2013 at 12:35 AM UTC

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In a move that seems to combine inefficacious policy, obtuse public relations and moral tastelessness, the U.K.'s Conservative-led government in June announced plans to roll out a pilot scheme that will require visitors from "high-risk" countries to put down a steep 3,000 pound ($4,690) deposit before they are allowed to enter the country.

The so-called "visa bond" scheme apparently may be inaugurated this November and initially apply only to selected visa-seekers from six countries, most prominent among them India. (The others are Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nigeria and Ghana.) The announcement by the U.K. Home Office wasn't exactly what India was anticipating after the U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron declared in February, "I think Britain and India can be one of the great partnerships of the 21st Century."