New Uk Visa arrangements announced

At a press conference held in Istanbul on 5 December the British Ambassador, Nicholas Baird, described new arrangements being rolled out globally by UKvisas, an arm of the British government, to introduce biometric capture -digital photograph and fingerscans – as part of the visa application process.

These arrangements will begin in Turkey on Thursday 6 December 2007.Collection of such data is part of a series of measures to use new technologies to strengthen the UK visa system against those who seek to abuse it. It will also help protect the genuine traveller against identity fraud and make admission into Britain faster and more efficient. It will also permit the issue once again of longer term (2 and 5 year) multiple entry “premium” visas for frequent travellers.Many countries are now introducing biometric techniques to improve security and efficiency for a range of different activities from retail purchases to passports.

UKvisas commercial partner WorldBridge will operate Visa Application Centres (VAC) in Ankara and Istanbul. They will also operate Micro Visa Application Centres in Bursa, Gaziantep and Izmir for those making their application and fee payment on-line. Visa applicants will then need to visit a VAC or Micro-Vac in person to submit passports and supporting do*****entation and to provide biometric data in the form of digital finger scans and photographs.

This last process is discrete, simple, non-intrusive and quick (taking no more than five minutes on average) and will not add to the overall time taken to process visa applications.

UKvisas is committed to ensuring that the UK remains a destination of choice for people to study, work and visit and to providing a high quality service to all visa applicants. For further information visit:-
www.visainfoservices.com
www.visa4uk.fco.gov.uk
www.britaininturkey.org
www.iris.gov.uk
Articles from British Embassy