India’s Home Secretary Mehrishi highlights time and cost in obtaining visas

Britain claims a thousand Indians overstay their visa in Britain every year, and the two countries are working together to improve the process for returning those who remain in Britain illegally, and can be successfully identified as Indian, India’s Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi said at the end of a weeklong visit to the United Kingdom.

Mr. Mehrishi held discussions with Ministers and senior civil servants to attempt to move things forward in some of the most sensitive issues relating to British-India relations, including counter-terrorism, visas and extradition.

The discussions happened as India’s attempt to extradite liquor baron Vijay Mallya continues, and an unnamed individual will be extradited to Britain within the next week to 10 days.

Dialogue ends

Mr. Mehrishi’s visit concluded with the second India-U.K. Home Affairs Dialogue, chaired by the British Home Office’s Permanent Secretary Philip Rutnam, and first held in May.

Home Affairs remains one of the most sensitive areas of bilateral relations, with Britain repeatedly raising the issue of overstaying Indians, and India pointing to the process and cost of obtaining visa for its citizens as issues that stood in the way of improving relations in a number of areas.

On the issue of those overstaying, Mr. Mehrishi said it was India’s policy that “any person identified as Indian who is here illegally, we’ll expedite his or her return and accept him or her back to the country…the only issue is the process or time taken…there is dispute about the U.K. wanting to send them back and India’s willingness to take them back provided their nationality is established.”

Mr. Mehrishi said Britain would look into a number of visa-related issues raised by India, including the costs and length of time it took to get a visa.