London Tourists Bring In £19 Billion But More Skilled Immigration Needed To Boost Economy

Cynthia Barker writes...Hey, in an interview with Jeremy Paxman (on his last BBC Newsnight show) today, Mayor Boris Johnson said that tourists visiting London brings in £19 billion!

There's no doubt that the great city of London attracts UK tourists in their millions and is a major contributor to the British economy.

This week, the Home Office extended a scheme to make it easier to obtain a UK tourist visa for the highest spending visitors: the Chinese!

But the boss of Harrods wants the Home Office to go further and make it easier and quicker for all Chinese visitors to obtain UK tourist visas.

Other leaders including New York's Mayor Bloomberg and our own London Mayor believe that the UK needs more than just short term tourists to boost it growth and economy.

Boris has called for an amnesty for UK visa overstayers in the capital, a move which he claims will add billions to the economy in tax revenue, as well as legalising millions of illegal immigrants living on the fringe of British society.

Businesses wants more skilled and highly skilled immigration to fill UK job vacancies and give the country the people and brains it needs to fuel growth and create jobs. But the government has imposed a cap on non-EU immigration and wants employers to recruit from within the EU or EEA - not as easy as it sounds when other countries, such as Germany and Norway, are also competing for skilled labour including nurses and doctors.

Skilled nurses and doctors are desperately needed to keep our hospitals and care homes staffed and safe for patient care, which is why companies like Concept Care are recruiting nurses from overseas for the NHS this year in countries like: Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, India, China, Finland, Latvia, Ireland, Spain, Portugal and the Philippines.

If you need advice on any immigration matter, including overstaying your visa, EU or UK immigration law, or want to appeal against a refusal, call Cynthia Barker on 07850 307687 or 0208 731 5972 or email her your details to immigration@londonccs.com. Cynthia Barker is a qualified OISC Registered Immigration Adviser, with 15 years experience in immigration matters, with a team of Level 3 Immigration Law Practitioners, Concept Care Solutions, Middlesex House, 29-45 High Street, Edgware, HA8 7UU.

New UK Visa Rules For Chinese Investors And Tourists To Be Announced By The Home Office

Cynthia Barker writes...Back to work on a cool cloudy Monday morning! Good news for Chinese visa applicants. The Home Office are expected to announce a relaxation of the UK Immigration Rules this week to encourage more Chinese tourists and business people to invest in Britain, the Telegraph reports.

Strict rules and delays for Chinese citizens applying for UK tourists visas and business visitor visas have been openly slammed by the Chinese government who are demanding special treatment.

Despite Home Office efforts to fast track the UK visa system, Britain is outside the EU WIDE Schengen visa area. Having to apply and pay for a separate visitor visor is discouraging more wealthy Chinese tourists and investors from coming to the UK when travelling to Europe.

The reforms follow a number of campaigns, including one from the Telegraph’s for easier visa rules for Chinese visitors to boost UK economic growth.

Leading businesses, known as the UK China Visa Alliance, which includes Travelodge, Harrods and International Airlines Group, and which owns British Airways, has warned that Chinese tourists, who spend an average of £1,600 per visit, are shunning the UK in favour of other countries in Europe.

Having said that, top London stores, like Harrods and Selfridges, employ hundreds of Chinese-speaking sales assistants to sell high end luxury goods to tourists from China.

The UK also hosts hundreds of thousands of Chinese students on Tier 4 student visas.

There are also schemes for longer term Investor Visas for a short route to British Citizenship (cash for citizenship) and Tier 1 Entrepreneur visas to encourage investment into Britain.

However, the British Chambers of Commerce, the British Hospitality Association and the Institute of Directors all want more improvements to the UK visa system to help British businesses.

Last year, British Prime Minister David Cameron announced that visa applications for some Chinese visitors entering the UK would be simplified.

Chinese tourists visiting the EU no longer need to submit separate UK tourist visa applications if they book with selected travel agents.

Home Office Ministers have also introduced a same day visa service for UK business visa visitors.

The Telegraph reports that further reforms will be announced when China’s premier, Li Keqiang, visits Britain for talks with the Prime Minister and tea with the Queen this week.

The Home Office are expected to drop the requirement for separate visa forms for all Chinese visitors who have applied under a European Union visa application, a major change from previously held views that the UK should have full control of its borders.

On Friday the Chinese Ambassador, Liu Xiaoming, said that progress on making it easier for Chinese people to visit Britain has been “far from enough”.

“We would like to see liberalisation of restrictions on visas on Chinese business people and Chinese tourists,” he said.

“I think there is many opportunities and much potential for cooperation with business, and with tourists. They’re not only coming here to enjoy sight-seeing, many of them are very good shoppers. I can see them anywhere and everywhere – Harrods, Oxford Street, you name it.”

Liu said that prominent Chinese businessmen are still being rejected when they apply for visas to come to the UK.

He said that many were rejected and unable to attend a recent business leaders’ summit but that he did not know the “real reason” their visa applications were turned down.

He added: “And also I receive complaints from businesses based here. They have difficulties to rotate their senior executives because of visa restrictions. That made their operations more difficult than they are in other European countries.

“So I think visa issues really erode British strength in terms of attracting more foreign businesses, attracting talented people. So I do wish more progress will be made on this issue.”

The relaxation of visa rules for the growing Chinese tourist market and rich investors will have positive benefits for the UK.

But let’s not forget that there are a large number of Chinese UK visa overstayers who are working without work permits in Britain. 

When Chinese illegal immigrants are caught during Home Office raids they normally claim to have "lost their passport" - a well known ploy to avoid immediate deportation from the UK.

The Chinese government will not take their citizens back without a passport and need 12 months to issue a replacement! This means the Home Office cannot afford to detain the overstayer for a year and are forced to release illegal immigrants into the community to work illegally, or in some cases fund lengthy appeals to prevent deportation.

If you need advice on any immigration matter, including overstaying your visa, EU or UK immigration law, or want to appeal against a refusal, call Cynthia Barker on 07850 307687 or 0208 731 5972 or email her your details to immigration@londonccs.com. Cynthia Barker is a qualified OISC Registered Immigration Adviser, with 15 years experience in immigration matters, with a team of Level 3 Immigration Law Practitioners, Concept Care Solutions, Middlesex House, 29-45 High Street, Edgware, HA8 7UU.

UK Visitors Faced Long Queues At London Heathrow After Border Force Computers Fail

Cynthia Barker writes…Thank god it’s Friday! Public holiday on Monday, so looking forward to a long weekend, yippee! Not so great for holiday travellers and UK visitors who faced long queues at London Heathrow Airport following a fault on UK Border Force computers today.

International passengers arriving at a number of British airports have reportedly been told they may have to wait of up to four hours to get their passports stamped. Wow, almost as long as USA immigration!

A Home Office spokesman said: "We are currently experiencing temporary IT problems which may add to the time taken to conduct passport checks.

"We are working to rectify this issue and are providing extra staff to get passengers through the controls as quickly as possible. Our priority remains security of the border.

"We apologise for any additional time this adds to passengers' journeys."

Passengers, most non-EU, reported problems at passport border control desks, largely affecting those trying to enter the country. The non-EU line for immigration control is always jammed full of people waiting to enter the UK and this extra delay will make things even worse.

Hundreds of thousands of passengers go through Heathrow every day and this bank holiday weekend will be crazy. Hopefully things will get sorted out soon.

I have spent many hours waiting for migrant nurses, care workers and students to arrive at Heathrow Terminal 3 and 4. The flights from the Philippines nearly always arrived at 6am! And British Airways always landed early. 

Although I hated getting up in the middle of the night to go to the airport I knew that those arriving on early flights usually faced fewer hassles, such as medical examinations, and were less likely to be detained.

I dreaded having to pick up that dirty yellow phone on the wall to speak to an immigration officer. Still, we won most of our appeals and none of our nurses got deported back onto the flight home.  

Visitors on UK visit visas are not always so lucky. Classic cases are those who arrive on a UK tourist visa from a visa national country, such as the Philippines, Nigeria or India, carrying their CV's and job applications! 

Obviously, the immigration border officer will not believe you are a genuine tourist if your real intention is to work illegally or try and switch visas once you are in the UK.

Other problems occur when visitors fail to declare a relationship in the UK, for instance a Fiance, which will also arouse suspicion when the immigration control office searches your luggage only to find a love letter!

Have a great weekend if you are flying off to somewhere nice...if not, have a boring one at home! Ha ha!

If you need advice on any immigration matter, including overstaying your visa, EU or UK immigration law, or want to appeal against a refusal, call Cynthia Barker on 07850 307687 or 0208 731 5972 or email her your details to immigration@londonccs.com. Cynthia Barker is a qualified OISC Registered Immigration Adviser, with 15 years experience in immigration matters, with a team of Level 3 Immigration Law Practitioners, Concept Care Solutions, Middlesex House, 29-45 High Street, Edgware, HA8 7UU.