Today, a number of Indian journalists met the British Home Secretary Mr Michael
Howard, who will be visiting India on December 29 for about a week before
leaving for Islamabad and Bangladesh. We had an informal chat and I thought that
UKINDIA should be the first one to carry this news. It follows:

TELL  ALL ABOUT PROBLEMS OF GETTING A BRITISH VISA
By Rakesh Mathur

Numerous complaints have been made by the Indian applicants for  the British
visa at the British High Commission in New Delhi. These complaints range from
waiting  for hours in the harsh weather conditions outside the British Consulate
to inhuman
interviews by the immigration officers. Things are definitely are not as bad as
chastity tests of the 70's but still there is a room for improvements. Now is
the time to tell it all.

To find out all about the delivery of British visas at their missions in the
Indian sub-continent, Mr Michael Howard, the British Home Secretary will be
leaving for New Delhi on 29 December. On this fact finding mission, he will have
meetings with the immigration officers, interpreters,  locally recruited staff
members, some of the  visa applicants and Indian politicians. 

"So far immigration is concerned, I want to see handling of cases," Mr Howard
told a number of London based Indian journalists this afternoon. What I want to
come back with is the greater understanding of how our officers work. I want to
gain for myself what kind of problems there are.

 "Illegal immigration is a problem for Great Britain. We have identified a large
number of them. We would say around 10,000 not only from the sub-continent but
also from other parts of the world. It is difficult to quantify the number
though."

Mr Howard will also have the opportunity to discuss his assylum and immigration
bill when he meets a wide range of people in the Indian sub-continent during his
12 day fact finding mission.  In India, he will visit New Delhi, Bombay and
Amritsar where he will visit the Golden temple and is expected to meet some Sikh
leaders.

Mr Michael Howard is an old friend of India and has visited this country several
times in the past. To select India for a trip during the most important holiday
period, is a tribute to the country he is so fond of.  Some of Howard's critics
responded at the news of this trip and said: " let's hope that he brings back
some of the compassion from the great religions of India."