Following a recent announcement by the UK Border Agency and as part of the Government's commitment to tightening border security, 5 additional countries will be subject to UK visa requirements.
Nationals of the following countries will now need to obtain a visa before travelling to the UK for visits of up to 6 months:
- Bolivia
- Lesotho
- South Africa
- Swaziland
- Venezuela (unless they hold a new fingerprint passport issued since 2007)
From 3 March 2009, all South African visitors to the UK must apply for a visa before travelling, unless they can show they have a previous UK entry stamp in their current passport. From mid-2009, all visitors from South Africa must have a valid visa. We would therefore advise that South Africans apply for visas as soon as practicable to avoid potential delays later in the year.
These changes will clearly impact on South African and the other affected nationals who will lose the flexibility to travel at short notice and the longer timescales should be factored into planning trips for business visitors. In addition, individuals travelling to a different country from these 5 countries via the UK will need to apply for transit visas.
A full list of all countries currently subject to the visa regime can be found here.
Please note that this list does not include the 5 countries above, and Taiwan will be removed from it as of 3 March 2009.
This article was written for Law-Now, CMS Cameron McKenna's free online information service. To register for Law-Now, please go to www.law-now.com/law-now/mondaq
Law-Now information is for general purposes and guidance only. The information and opinions expressed in all Law-Now articles are not necessarily comprehensive and do not purport to give professional or legal advice. All Law-Now information relates to circumstances prevailing at the date of its original publication and may not have been updated to reflect subsequent developments.
The original publication date for this article was 13/02/2009.
