The British High Commission in Colombo Friday admitted the transfer of a part of the visa-processing operations to Chennai, India, has not been as smooth as anticipated.
“Unfortunately, this is causing longer than usual processing times. As a result, a high number of Sri Lankans have experienced a delay in receiving their visas. This kind of remote processing of visa applications is common across the global visa services network and is generally working well,” the High Commission said in a statement.
The statement comes in the wake of a series of complaints about delays in the issue of UK visas, causing much inconvenience to travellers.
The High Commission said they were working on speeding up the processing time, and requested persons planning to travel to Britain to submit their visa applications well in advance.
Sri Lankans who have applied for UK visas say they have been greatly inconvenienced by the High Commission’s decision to move the visa-processing section to Chennai.
Complaints range from cases of misplaced documents and the lack of clear guidelines on what documents are required by keeping prospective travellers in a state of suspense as they await the outcome of their applications, with visas arriving at “the last minute”. A large number of students travelling to the UK for studies are among the hundreds inconvenienced by the new procedures.
Each year, more than 32,000 Sri Lankans apply to the British High Commission in Colombo for UK visas. Visa fees range from Rs. 9,680 to Rs. 45,100, depending on the reasons for travel.
The Sunday Times learns that three students due to travel to the UK for higher studies are still awaiting news about their UK visas, six weeks after submitting their applications and relevant documents. | 
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