Students applying for visas to the UK will face tighter screening. Video interviews with officials of the UK Visa and Immigration department is now mandatory.
Introduced recently, the compulsory teleconferencing replaces a system where select student applicants were invited to the diplomatic missions for face-to-face interviews, said Vishal Jairath, Regional Head-South Asia, VFS Global, the visa processing partner of the UK.
VFS is currently serving 45 governments, assisting in biometric enrolment and data mining solutions for diplomatic missions and consulates across the world.
When a student applies for a visa, he/she undergoes an interview at that stage itself. There are two video conferencing booths connected to the hub in Sheffield, UK. Speaking to reporters at the unveiling of its relocated visa processing centre in Chennai, he said video-screening is not unique to Indian applicants, and will not deter genuine applicants.
Bharat Joshi, the British Deputy High Commissioner in Chennai said the move is aimed at preventing fraudsters from posing as students to gain entry into the UK. “The screening will basically gauge their facility in English and their knowledge about their courses and prospects in the UK.” Nine out of ten applications are allowed, he added.
There is no plan to extend the screening method to any other category of visa, he said.
The stricter process comes at a time when less number of Indians are entering the UK for study. Over the last year, the overall number of immigrants increased by five per cent, but student visas dropped, said Joshi. “The student numbers have been going down even before the video-conferencing was introduced. It’s due a variety of factors, including competition from other countries.”