Labour MP Virendra Sharma welcomes UK govt's decision to scrap visa bond scheme

LONDON: Indian-origin Labour MP Virendra Sharma has welcomed the British government's decision to scrap its plans to introduce a 3,000-pound visa bond scheme aimed at restricting visitors from some Asian and African countries.

Besides India, these countries include Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Ghana and Nigeria.

The visa bonds were to be put in place to prevent visitors from these countries from overstaying their visas.

The Home Office policy was opposed by the Liberal Democrat coalition partners and several Government departments before being scrapped.

Virendra has long been opposed to the introduction of the visa bonds for being discriminatory and hindering relations between the UK and the affected countries.