No decision yet on need for visas to UK

According to dispatch.co.za

2008/02/12

THE British High Commission said no decision had been made to strip South Africa of its visa free status.

A newspaper recently reported that Britain was rethinking the status, partly because of rampant corruption in the South African Department of Home Affairs.

The department has said the suggestions were not true.

Britain’s Serious Organised Crime Agency recently smashed a people-smuggling gang which brought more than 6000 illegal immigrants into Britain on forged or stolen South African passports.

A spokesperson for the British High Commission, Russ Dixon, said his government was in the process of conducting a global review of its visitors’ visa requirements.

Last month Immigration Minister, Liam Byrne said those applying for a British visa from any of 133 countries would now have their fingerprints checked against a database.

Meanwhile, the Home Affairs Department said South Africans did not need to panic over the reports.

The department said it would inform visa applicants in due course about any new procedures.

The department said it was conscious of the mammoth task ahead to rid the department of corruption.