£1,000 bond planned for visits by overseas relatives

· Sponsor families could be subject to sanctions
· Tighter immigration rules would cut tourist visas
Alan Travis, home affairs editor
Monday December 17, 2007
Guardian
Families who sponsor visits by overseas relatives to Britain will first have to pay a bond, expected to be £1,000, under new immigration proposals out this week.The immigration minister, Liam Byrne, is also to outline plans to cut the duration of tourist visas from six months to three months and make the visa regime for business travellers to Britain more flexible.
Previous attempts to introduce a bond for visitor visas have foundered in the face of fierce criticism that visa applications should be decided on their merits rather the size of people's wallets.
The Home Office consultation paper to be published tomorrow forms the final part of the government's plans to reform the framework of the immigration system, which has been in operation since 1971. The main part of the overhaul is the introduction of an Australian-style points based immigration system in April.
"Over the next 12 months we will see the biggest shake-up in its history," said Byrne. "The final front, I believe, is foreign visitor routes where change is needed."
The plans to streamline the system of allowing foreign visitors into Britain from outside the EU were first announced last March as part of a "borders and visas" strategy. Only four categories of visa were proposed: tourist, business, student and sponsored family visits. So far only the student visas category has come into force, which happened last September.
The March proposals said the sponsored family route will require UK residents to vouch for their family member at the start of the application process and to maintain and house their visitor and fund any of his or her non-emergency medical care. These proposals also suggested that if the visitor broke the terms of their visa, by overstaying or working illegally, the sponsor could be held responsible and be subject to sanctions.
Now Byrne has made clear he would like to go further and revive the idea of a bond, which would be refundable only if the visitor returned home on time. Ministers also want to ensure that only those who are a close family relative and have full settlement rights in Britain can sponsor overseas visitors.
A Home Office spokesman said yesterday the consultation paper will raise the idea of a bond but not mention an actual amount.
The idea was first raised in 2000 when the then home secretary, Jack Straw, proposed a £3,000 visitor bond. But it was quickly abandoned after the Commission for Racial Equality said the bond was "clearly discriminatory" and unfairly targeted the Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities.
Tomorrow's document will propose changes to tourist and business visas. In March, the Home Office proposed that the duration of tourist visas be reduced from six months to three as this reflected the needs of the vast majority of those who visited Britain.
Business travellers are to be offered a more flexible system with simple short-term visas combined with expedited clearance processes, such as Business Express, for regular "trusted" travellers.
The development of more specialised or time-limited visas, which could include an Olympics visa to help support the promotion of 2012, will also be explored.

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