UK visa

UK relaxes visa rules, good news for South Africans wanting to visit the UK

Come April 2015, it will be less of a hassle and expense for South Africans to travel to the United Kingdom. Here’s why…

UK visa

The current UK visa system will be relaxed and simplified from April 2015, in order to make the UK more attractive to business.

Although South Africans will still need visas to visit the UK, the new visit visa system will reduce the current 15 types of UK visitor visa categories to just four, explains Breytenbachs Immigration Consultants.

What does that mean exactly?
Business travellers

Will be able to combine business and holiday trips to the UK without having to apply for two separate visas. According to Immigration Manager at 1st Contact Visas John Dunn, this change will reduce red tape and possible delays.

“While applications will be simpler, it is worth noting that all of the original entry criteria still apply,” he said.

Performing artists

Will be able to take part in or host productions more easily thanks to a new visa category.

Visitors wanting to get married in the UK

Will be able to apply for a visa to do just that. But before you consider eloping, bear in mind that the visa will have no relation to the current partner visas and will not grant you the right to remain in the UK, warns Dunn.

According to Breytenbachs, the changes come in light of “continuous complaints from British business leaders that the current visit visa process is too cumbersome and a hindrance to economic growth”.

There are hopes that regular travel visas will be relaxed in the same way, but at the moment it is too early to tell.

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