UK working on making visa process convenient for Namibians

Outgoing British High Commissioner to Namibia Charles Moore has revealed that the United Kingdom (UK) is working on making its visa process more convenient to Namibian travellers.

Speaking while bidding farewell to president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah at State House on Wednesday, Moore said the UK introduced a visa regime for Namibian travellers in July 2023, following abuse of the non-visa requirement, which resulted in a high number of asylum seekers since 2016.

He said by July 2023, over 1 000 Namibians had sought asylum in the UK.

Moore said although the visa regime was effective by almost completely stopping Namibians from seeking asylum in the UK, it has inconvenienced and is costly to genuine Namibian travellers, including businesspeople, senior officials, ministers and tourists.

“We recognised it has an impact on genuine Namibian travellers, and it is just unfortunate . . .

“We are trying to make the visa process user-friendly, quicker and less inconvenient for Namibian travellers, and hopefully it won’t put people off as genuine travellers,” he said.

Before the visa requirements, Namibians could travel to the UK for a limited period as non-visa nationals.

Currently, applicants have to apply for visas online and provide their biometrics and passport, of which the UK government aims to process applications within 15 working days.

Applicants can apply up to three months in advance of travel.

Moore emphasised that the visa regime did not imply blame on any of the two governments, noting that there was nothing the two governments could do to stop people from seeking asylum.