Editors PickNational News

British Parliament decries strict visa applications

Members of the United Kingdom House of Lords have asked their government to remove red tape from visa applications to the UK by Malawians which they described as “dysfunctional and a bureaucratic nightmare”.

The House of Lords is the upper house of the UK Parliament, which has powers to make laws and carry out checks and balances on the government while working with the House of Commons.

Speaking during debate in the House on Thursday, Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale, who is former Scotland First Minister and has visited Malawi many times, said the visa system denies many Malawians from going to the UK “to contribute to debates and discussions” even when their host was a reputable UK or Scottish organisation or a government body.

According to the House of Lords Hansard accessed yesterday, McConnell asked government to address the “chaos” in the short-term then investigate how the system could contribute to the good relations between Malawi and and UK.

Said McConnell: “The system is dysfunctional, it is certainly disproportionate and it is, in my view, deeply damaging. From the 15-page application form that people have to fill in to the posting of passports to countries far away…to the cashless system that encourages sharks to charge a fee to use their credit cards, as people pay them cash—all these measures have led to a whole series of people month after month being denied the opportunity to come to this country from poor communities in Malawi.”

In Malawi, the UK visa application centre is run by a private company, Teleperformance Ltd, and subscontracted to FedEx. Since March this year, Malawians have been paying 59 pounds (about K42 000) in addition to the visa application fee which varies according to the type of visa being sought.

Concurring with McConnell, Lord Steel of Aikwood said the bureaucratic nightmare—made worse because applications had to be processed in Pretoria, South Africa—had resulted in the UK government losing accountability of the visa system because it has been contracted to a private agency.

In response , Department for International Development (DfID) spokesperson in the House of Lords, Baroness Northover, downplayed  the members’ concerns, especially on the bureaucracy surrounding paying for visa applications.

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One Comment

  1. Remember UK fellow since 1875 you have been entering Malawi without restrictions. We considered you as sisters and brothers. Do not us as if we are slaves. Let us continuing enjoying our partnership as before.

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