SINKINSON... visa requirement not related to recent cases of violence

BRITISH consular officers in Kingston yesterday turned down nearly 30 per cent of the applicants on the first day of a new requirement that Jamaican citizens must first have visas to travel to the United Kingdom.

But with a few of the first day's applications still outstanding up to late yesterday, the rejections could reach as high as a third if the British also say 'no' to these visa requests.

The British Government announced the new visa policy on Wednesday, saying that it was in response to a growing number of immigration violations by Jamaicans. Too many Jamaicans were overstaying their visits or not even returning to the island, British officials said.

FENNER-WHITE... four applications were pending

Now, Jamaica joins Guyana as being the only Caribbean members of the Commonwealth to have a visa regimen.

Many Jamaicans, however, saw the new visa regimen as a dent in their national pride.

Yesterday, 72 hopeful Jamaicans applied for visitors visas and the British High Commission approved 47, or 65 per cent, of them, said British High Commission spokesperson, Mags Fenner-White.

Officials rejected 21 applications, or approximately 29 per cent. Another four applications were pending as of late yesterday, Fenner-White said.

If those four are eventually rejected, it would mean that approximately 35 per cent of the first day hopefuls would have been disappointed.

British officials reviewed applicants on a "case by case" basis to determine if they were likely to obey immigration rules and, thus, should be granted a visa, explained Fenner-White.

The cost is £35 (J$2,900) for a standard single entry visa and £150 (J$12,000) for a 10-year multiple entry.

The visa regimen came amid increasing concern in Britain about crime related to residents with Jamaican ties, including notorious gangs such as the Jamaican-dominated Yardies or the so-called Homeboys. There has also been concern in Britain over the flow of South American cocaine into the UK via Jamaica, often transported by Jamaicans who swallow the drug wrapped in condoms.

However, Acting British High Commissioner Phil Sinkinson claimed that the visa requirement was not related to these issues or to recent cases of violence.

Britain's home secretary, David Blunkett, said that Jamaicans accounted for 20 per cent of all travellers refused entry into Britain during the pre-Christmas season. He had become concerned, he explained, about the unacceptably high number of Jamaican visitors who absconded -- at a rate of 150 a month for the first half of 2002.

Jamaica's foreign ministry said discussions for a possible new visa regimen started two years ago between British and Jamaican officials.

"Jamaica has sought to prevent the imposition of a visa regime, while at the same time recognising the sovereign right of Britain to determine its immigration procedures," the ministry said.

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