{"id":3321,"date":"2008-06-26T17:36:54","date_gmt":"2008-06-26T17:36:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tat.reddaisytrading.co.uk\/index.php\/2008\/06\/26\/brits-face-fine-or-jail-if-relatives-overstay-visa\/"},"modified":"2016-01-07T11:09:53","modified_gmt":"2016-01-07T11:09:53","slug":"brits-face-fine-or-jail-if-relatives-overstay-visa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/2008\/06\/26\/brits-face-fine-or-jail-if-relatives-overstay-visa\/","title":{"rendered":"Brits face fine or jail if relatives overstay visa"},"content":{"rendered":"
Government step up plans to tighten visa rules<\/b><\/p>\n
BRITONS who call over foreign relatives on a visitor visa could face jail or be forced to pay a hefty fine if the relative overstays their visa.<\/strong> <\/div>\n

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The new plans are outlined under revised Home Office proposals which were published yesterday. <\/div>\n

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An original plan to force Britons to pay a \u00a31,000 cash bond before relatives land in Britain was abandoned after it faced strong opposition.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

In its place Britons will instead be asked apply for a licence before sponsoring a \u2018family visitor visa\u2019 for relatives from aboard. <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

The sponsor could be sent to jail for up to 14 years if the relative stays too long, or be hit with a \u00a35,000 fine. <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Licences with only be issued to Britons once checks on financial capability, criminal records and immigration status are passed.<\/div>\n

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The new plans aim to deter foreign visitors from staying beyond their visa limit as well as forcing Britons to ensure the relative returns to their homeland.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

The definition of a relative under the scheme will include spouses, parents, children, grandparents and grandchildren, siblings, aunts, uncles and first cousins.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Immigration minister Liam Byrne said: \u201cNow we are introducing an Australian-style points system for selective migration, it makes sense to tighten visit visas at the same time.<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

“The changes I am announcing will help create a fairer Britain with fair treatment for those who play by the rules, but tough action against those who break the law. <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

“We want the UK to stay open and attractive for both business and visitors. But at the same time we are determined to deliver a system of border security which is among the most secure in the world.” <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

The latest announcement comes after a consultation into changes to marriage visas were published last week.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

The government is considering increasing the age at which Britons are able to sponsor a spouse from 18 to 21, while controversial plans to deny visa\u2019s to foreign husband and wives coming to Britain who cannot speak English may be abandoned after opposition from respondents. <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Mr Byrne said a final decision on the later has not yet been made. <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/div>\n

\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Government step up plans to tighten visa rules BRITONS who call over foreign relatives on a visitor visa could face jail or be forced to pay a hefty fine if the relative overstays their visa. The new plans are outlined under revised Home Office proposals which were published yesterday. An original plan to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11753,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3321"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3321\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}