The
British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Dr. Andrew Pocock, has said no
Nigerian would be asked to pay £3,000 as fee for a British visa.
Pocock said this yesterday when he visited the Nigerian Stock
Exchange to ring the closing bell, and to discuss ways in which more
British companies can be encouraged to invest in the capital market.
He said, “The visa bond, as it is being called here, is not a £3,000
charge for a British Visa. That is not the case, it is not going to
happen now and it is not going to happen in the future. Visa fee, which
is what you pay for a visa, will not go to £3,000 or anywhere near it.”
Reports had emerged earlier this year that the British government was
planning to implement a new scheme under which some visitors from six
commonwealth countries, including Nigeria, would be asked to pay a
£3,000 cash bond in return for visitor visas that allow them to stay in
the UK for up to six months.
“In the long run, we are interested in a system of bonds that deters
overstaying and recovers costs if a foreign national has used our public
services,” an unnamed Home Office official had been quoted as saying in
June.
The development had resulted in an outcry by nationals of the affected countries.
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