THE United Kingdom will tomorrow roll out a new electronic visa system that will deliver approvals online, allowing applicants to keep their passports throughout the vetting process.

British High Commissioner to Jamaica Alicia Herbert shared the development at this week’s Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange, noting that the shift to e-visas represents a procedural overhaul in how travel approval is delivered, but stressed that the underlying visa requirement itself remains firmly in place for Jamaica.

“When you go to the visa centre, you submit your application, you will no longer have to leave your passport at the application centre; you fill your documents, you leave that there, you take your passport away, and your visa will come through. It’s an e-visa and will come through your registration on the site that you would have registered on,” Herbert explained.

The introduction of electronic visas forms part of a wider modernisation of Britain’s immigration system, which has been shifting away from physical endorsements in passports in favour of digital records that can be accessed online.

Herbert said that the move is expected to improve efficiency in how visas are processed.

“It’s happening globally. It’s a global change, and I think [it is being introduced] in a sense of looking for greater efficiencies in the way in which things are done… So, yes, it’s about an efficiency drive and about the way in which the world works now in the sense of more online, more electronic, rather than that physical stamp in the passport,” Herbert said.

The announcement comes against the backdrop of long-standing concern in Jamaica over the continued visa requirement for travel to the United Kingdom which has remained in place since 2003 and has been described by diplomats on both sides as a sensitive issue in bilateral relations.

When asked whether there had been any progress towards removing the requirement entirely, Herbert said: “The short answer is no.”

Jamaica remains the only Commonwealth realm country whose citizens require a full visa to enter the United Kingdom (UK), while several other Caribbean countries have been moved to Britain’s Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) system, which is generally seen as a lighter-touch entry requirement.

Herbert’s predecessor, Judith Slater, had acknowledged that the visa regime has been a long-standing point of tension between Kingston and London, even as she noted that most Jamaicans who apply are granted entry.

“There were a lot of people overstaying and causing difficulties for the UK at the time when the regime was introduced in 2003, so this is something that is under review. It will be reviewed again. And, of course, nothing would make me happier than for there to not be a visa requirement because it makes the flow of people back and forth even easier, but the vast majority of Jamaicans who apply for a visa do get one. And it would be great if the people who overstayed, who were sort of spoiling it for the rest of them back in 2003, if we could be assured that that wouldn’t happen then consideration would be given to lifting the visa regime,” Slater told the Observer last year August.

Slater, who ended her tour of duty last year, described the issue as “the thorn in the side of the bilateral relationship” between both nations, and indicated that Britain had been seeking to balance facilitating legitimate travel with maintaining confidence in its immigration system.

She also sought to reassure Jamaicans about their chances of success when applying, pointing out that approval rates remain high and that efforts have been made to make the process smoother.

“We try to make the process as smooth and as seamless as possible, and it takes about three weeks normally to get that visa,” she said.

The visa requirement was introduced amid concerns about Jamaicans overstaying their permitted time in the UK. Since then, successive Jamaican Administrations have lobbied for its removal, arguing that Jamaica’s status as a Commonwealth realm and close historical ties with Britain warrant visa-free access similar to other comparable countries.