According to the latest news, the UK government has doubled the cost of visa for a category of visas known as a 'super priority' visa. The group of persons most affected by this change in the fees of this category of visas is the business traveler to the UK. This change was introduced recently and has surprised and shocked those who are affected and some observers.
And one of the most surprising aspects regarding this matter is that this was in direct contradiction to the announcements made by the Prime Minister, Mr. David Cameron during his visit to India and China last year. Mr. David Cameron had asserted during his visits and tours to the two countries that the government would like to encourage international businesses to invest in the UK.
More specifically, David Cameron had promised that he would slash costs for two types of business visas: ‘priority’ and ‘super priority’ visas and also cut down the bureaucratic red tape involved in the processing of these two types of visas. It has been estimated that the actual cost of processing the new ‘24-hour high-priority visa’ is just £6, while the actual cost now is priced at £600.
Many native businessmen of UK have been highly critical of these new measures asserting that these measures do not respect investors and treat them as simply as ‘cash cows’. Some of the prominent business figures and business executives who have been critical include Willie Walsh, chief executive of British Airways’ owner International Airlines Group, Nick Varney, owner of Madame Tussauds and the London Eye.
