UK Visas and Immigration Facility opens in Adelaide

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Created on Thursday, 10 October 2013 15:11

Written by Editorial staff

Australian migration agents with clients from the UK may be interested to learn that a brand-new UK Visas and Immigration Facility has been opened in Adelaide.

This pilot facility was established with the help of the newly renamed Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP).

Before the UK Visas and Immigration Facility opened, people applying for immigration visas for the UK had to visit Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Canberra or Perth to complete the  "biometrics collection" aspect of their applications.

This involves providing fingerprints and a digital photograph.

That means UK visa applicants from South Australia were forced to travel out of state in order to complete the application process.

Now, the UK Visas and Immigration Facility allows UK visa applicants to provide their biometric data in Adelaide, which should make life a lot easier for both them and migration agents in South Australia.

Australia's Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Senator the Hon. Michaelia Cash, said in an October 9 statement that the pilot facility could potentially save applicants "hundreds of dollars and days of travel time".

The pilot facility will be open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9.30am to 10.30am, but entry is by appointment only.

Ms Cash said that the DIBP will not have access to the biometric data provided by visa applicants.

She explained that the DIBP has a "strong and productive" relationship with UK Visas and Immigration, and that joint services and facilities such as this one are a big part of that.

"This pilot facility is a reflection of the strong ties with the UK, and continued co-operation on immigration related issues," added Ms Cash.

"This initiative builds upon that cooperative government-to-government relationship including in the context of the Five Countries Conference (Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, USA and Canada), and it also provides a significant convenience to residents in Adelaide who want to travel to the UK".

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) attests to Australia's strong and productive relationship with the UK.

Its latest "Overseas Arrivals and Departures" report, which was released on October 8, reveals that the number of short-term visitors who travelled from the UK to Australia in August is 4.4 per cent larger that it was 12 months ago.

This number also increased by 0.9 per cent between July 2013 and August 2013.

The number of Australians travelling to the UK also increased by a whopping 20 per cent between August 2012 and August 2013.