New High Commissioner told Pakistan visas need urgent attention

Keith Best, Chief Executive of IAS, delivered the opening speech of welcome to Adam Thompson at a dinner on Wednesday 9 December at the Hilton Hotel, Park Lane, London for Parliamentarians from both the British House of Lords and House of Commons and from Pakistan as well as British Pakistanis to signal his appointment as the new British High Commissioner in taking up his post in Islamabad in the third week of January. Both Keith Best and several of the Parliamentarians mentioned immigration and visas and the new High Commissioner also referred to these in his own remarks. He is well aware of the issues. 

There is no doubt that there have been problems for Pakistanis coming to the UK and this has caused resentment and personal difficulty. Both the IAS offices in Karachi, Lahore and Mirpur as well as the IAS offices in the UK and Keith Best have dealt with many of these.  

“Our concern has been not only in the high rate of refusals and the delays but also the problems of understanding and cultural sensitivity towards Pakistan of British entry clearance officers who are based in the UK and Abu Dhabi when making decisions respectively on family settlement and other applications” said Keith Best. 

Visa processing for Pakistan applicants was moved to Abu Dhabi (non-settlement applications) and the UK (settlement applications – now done in the Home Office building) from November 2009 although some residual applications continue to be processed in Islamabad. A recent Freedom of Information request elicited the fact that July-December 2008 of 78,487 applications in Pakistan 36,512 (47%) were refused compared with 217,450 applications lodged in India for the same period of which only 40,183 (18%) were refused. In the period January-July 2009 99,751 applications were made in Pakistan of which 46,823 (47%) were refused compared with 295,319 applications in India of which 51,755 (18%) were refused. The figures, therefore, are consistent over both periods but there is an alarming disparity in the refusal rates between Pakistan and India.

In the view of the British Government following the Marriot Bombing in 2008 and evacuation of all families out of Islamabad a more secure, flexible and resilient platform was an absolutely necessity in order to provide a continued visa service for Pakistan customers. The current security situation in Pakistan supports this decision. The Hub and Spoke system (whereby decisions on applications are taken at a regional centre and not necessarily in the country where the applications are made) is a global approach used by the UK Border Agency. It is not unique to Pakistan. 

Keith Best said that “In response to my concerns about the situation the British High Commission has made the following points:

• Knowledge of Pakistan in Abu Dhabi and UK hub: both operations have several former Pakistan entry clearance officers and senior managers. They have also recruited local staff from Islamabad to Abu Dhabi and locally within UAE. From time to time, both UK hub and Abu Dhabi hub staff (including entry clearance officers) visit/complete temporary duty in Islamabad. In addition, they have deliberately retained local staff who make pre assessment checks on documentation in Pakistan and feed this into the decision making operation in Abu Dhabi.
  
• Refusal rate: each application is considered on its own merits, combined with the necessary checks. The outcome of these checks does impact on refusal rate. Robust checks are not unique to Pakistan but the UK Border Agency remains vigilant in view of the prevalence of false documents submitted with Pakistani visa applications. We estimate that about one third of all UK visa refusals in Pakistan are due to fraud and forgery. The onus is on customers to supply all the necessary supporting information with their applications. Often applicants do not complete their applications sufficiently and/or provide all the necessary documentation and this can result in the application being refused.  The rights of appeal that apply in Pakistan apply globally. They do warn customers about the consequence of submitting forged documents or false information.
  
• Return of visa decision-making to Pakistan: there is no intention to return the visa decision making to Pakistan. Reports that the UK visa operation is moving back to Islamabad are wrong and reflect inaccurate reporting at the time of the Home Secretary's visit.  The British High Commission actively contacted the newspaper concerned and conveyed this message.
  
• Islamabad is the support function for the decision-making hubs. They continue to complete 100% document checks (passports) and verification work in country. Checks have increased not decreased and the entry clearance officers (now in UK and Abu Dhabi) are provided with this information before making the decision.
  
• The allegation that if anyone of Indian origin supports the entry clearance officer then no visas will be issued to Pakistani nationals is firmly rebutted: they maintain that there is no discrimination towards Pakistan customers and they simply would not tolerate it. Their applications are processed in line with the Immigration Rules and on the basis of the information they provide and the outcome of checks made. 

“Revised Immigration Rules came into effect on 1 October strengthening Tier 4. They include:

• The power to restrict a student to studying with only their named Tier 4 sponsor.
• Allowing students to apply with a Confirmation of Acceptance for Study (CAS) issued by the IT and
• Tier 4 applicants overseas now have to show that they have had the required amount of maintenance in their account for 28 days. This policy is deferred for UK in-country applicants until 1 February 2010.

“These changes are part of a four-point plan to embed Tier 4 and to deal with the issues resulting from the unexpectedly high application numbers in some parts of the world.  

“The UK Border Agency has had to suspend applications in some countries (e.g. the Fujian province in China) where there has been a significant increase in applications due to suspected abuse and recruitment malpractices of some Tier 4 Sponsors. In October the volume of Tier 4 applications were 9% higher than the equivalent 6 months last year. 

“There is no doubt that the visa system in Pakistan will continue to be under pressure and I urge anyone with difficulties to contact our IAS offices in either Pakistan or the UK. More than ever there is the need for competent legal advice and representation which IAS can give. Applicants who go to travel agents and advisers who do not know the latest changes in the immigration rules and who actively encourage fraudulent applications to be made with forged documents are putting themselves at great risk. Not only increasingly are such applications spotted by the sophisticated machinery used by the UK Border Agency but also such applicants are turned over to the Pakistani police for prosecution. Worse of all is that when such an application is spotted the applicant will be banned from coming to the UK for up to ten years. 

“IAS is there to help applicants navigate their way through the immigration rules and show how they can satisfy them legitimately which is in everyone’s best interests.” 

END

CONTACT:	Keith Best, Chief Executive
Telephone:	020 7967 1221 (office)
	07785 323200 (mobile)
	020 7735 7699 (home)
	website: www.iasuk.org (see Press Office)