Visas for our international visitors
Our members consider the UK Visa regime to be one of the biggest barriers to the growth of inbound tourism. National security concerns are of course paramount but this is a competitive world. Our visa system needs to be as customer friendly, cost effective and accessible as possible.
Through our political lobbying activity and involvement in the UKVI Senior Stakeholder Group, we are keeping a close eye on what kind of visa regime might be put in place for our EU visitors post Brexit and we are also campaigning to see the following improvements to visas particularly for our Chinese and Indian visitors:
- Processing times to be reduced to 5 working days wherever possible
- Applicants and tour operators proactively informed of progress of applications
- Further training rolled out to ensure that Border Force Staff provide a professional but welcoming reception to our inbound visitors
- The Home Office to vary visa fees according to priority markets and build in flexibility for premium services, multi-entry and long-term visas
- The opportunity to complete applications in the applicant’s own language
- Government covering costs for applications
