British citizens might lose expensive holidays as India changes visa application rules last minute

British citizens have to attend visa centres in-person now, in accordance with the new rule enforced by the Indian High Commission in the UK. Earlier, travel agents could bring visa which were then processed in batches and the turnaround was faster. According to the High Commission's statement, in-person visa application rule will prevent illegal fee charging by travel agents to get visas processed for travellers to India.

Social media users have suggested that the in-person visa applications could be part of Indian government’s retaliation to UK home secretary Suella Braverman. Braverman had earlier said that some Indian migrants “overstay” their visa in the UK.

Journalist and commentator, Sunny Hundal said that this move has led to hundreds of British Indians having their plans thrown into disarray over visa delays. He added that the Indian government was quite annoyed by Suella Braverman's statement about Indian visa overstayers being a huge problem for UK.

The Indian National Student Association (INSA) UK said that at present Indian students directly contribute not only their talent to UK universities, but also keep them viable commercially. Rather than making such damaging statements, we hope the government addresses real issues such as the shortage of student housing.

Labour Convention of Indian Organisations (LCIO) said that Braverman clearly doesn't understand how well-integrated the community is, a PTI report stated. 

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