UK Rescinds Controversial £3,000 Bond for Nigerians Seeking UK Visas

The United Kingdom has rescinded her controversial plans for a £3,000 bond on Nigerians seeking entry to the country after a massive outrage greeted the proposed scheme.

Appalled by the move, Nigeria’s ministry of Foreign Affairs assured Nigerians of government's readiness to defend and protect them all over the world.

Also the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee described the proposed UK entry bond as discriminatory and unacceptable.

The plan is now being hastily rewritten after Nick Clegg, Liberal Democrat leader in the UK declined to sign off the details of a pilot scheme due to start in November.

It would be recalled that Theresa Mary May, British Home secretary had put forward a £3,000 cash bond to deter "high risk" Asian and African short-term visitors from overstaying in Britain.

The scheme was floated at the weekend by the home secretary and provoked uproar in India and Nigeria, which were among the six countries named as possible targets, with threats that reciprocal action should be taken against British visitors.

The other countries were Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Ghana.

"The policy has not yet been signed off," said a Liberal Democrat source in the UK was quoted as saying.

"We are in favour of the principle but the exact details of how it is to be piloted, including the size of the bond, is still being discussed in government."

Clegg has said he favours the introduction of a £1,000 cash bond to deter overstayers.

Home Office sources confirmed that the level at which the bond is to be set was among the details yet to be decided, and said the pilot scheme was still in the planning stage.

They stressed that the requirement to post a bond would not apply to all visitors from the designated countries but only to individuals regarded as high risk.

The scheme might apply to hundreds of visitor visa applicants initially, before being expanded to cover many thousands later.

The Home Office wants to pilot the scheme for six-month visitor visas and will extend it to student and work visas if it proves successful. Those who overstay their visa and fail to return home will forfeit the money.

The Financial Times reported on Tuesday that the announcement of a £3,000 bond scheme at the weekend was in danger of provoking a diplomatic backlash in India, months after David Cameron had tried to combat the perception that Britain was closing its doors to students from the subcontinent.

It reported that the Confederation of British Industry had attacked the scheme as "highly discriminatory and very unfortunate".

In Nigeria senior government officials and politicians described the scheme as discriminatory and unacceptable.

Mr Ode Ogbole, spokesman for the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Abuja told Daily Trust: "It's been rescinded".

Elsewhere, Nnenna Elendu-Ukeje (PDP Abia), committee chairman on foreign affairs  said in a statement that "This is totally discriminatory and unacceptable. It is targeted to non-white Commonwealth. We would take a critical look at the policy as it affects Nigerians and come up with a way forward"

"We agreed totally with the UK Foreign Minister that the policy is totally unworkable and impractical. It is contrary to the commitment made to our President by David Cameron during their last meeting. We believe it is for political reason ahead of general election. We seek that our long historical relationship should take precedence over political expediency," Ukeje said.


In the UK, Keith Vaz, chair of the Commons home affairs committee, said the move flew in the face of Cameron's intention to attract the brightest and best to Britain. "The plans could potentially alienate already settled communities in the UK," he said.

"There are a number of holes in the home secretary's pilot. If this is to be workable she must conduct a proper consultation. She has said she wants to deter overstayers, yet with the mess that is E-Borders there is currently no way to monitor if people actually leave the country.

The bond level of £3,000 is completely unrealistic. If somebody was determined to work here illegally this could be earned back in a matter of months," Vaz said.

But May said the move was the next step in making sure the immigration system was more selective, and bringing down net migration from the hundreds of thousands to the tens of thousands while still welcoming the brightest and the best to Britain.

"In the long run we're interested in a system of bonds that deters overstaying and recovers costs if a foreign national has used our public services," she said. "We're planning a pilot that focuses on overstayers and examines a couple of different ways of applying bonds. The pilot will apply to visitor visas, but if the scheme is successful we'd like to be able to apply it on an intelligence-led basis on any visa route and any country."