British officials boost resources to ensure student visa chaos is not repeated in Hong Kong this summer
More than 1,100 anxious students contacted lawmaker Ip Kin-yuen’s office for help over their delayed documents last year
British immigration authorities have promised to put in place more resources for their visa application service to avoid a repeat of the chaos last summer when more than 1,100 Hong Kong students were affected by delays to their documents, according to a local legislator.
On Sunday, education sector lawmaker Ip Kin-yuen, who met a UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) delegation in Hong Kong to discuss the matter in March, said officials had explained that the delays were due to technical problems with a scanning system, insufficient manpower at the visa centre in Sheffield and a failure to respond to inquiries in time.
Hongkongers will be able to use an online application system, Access UK, this year to process documents.
Ip released a report on the delays, which included a letter from UKVI. “We have reviewed what happened and have put in place necessary resourcing and operational plans to ensure it doesn’t happen again,” the letter read.
More than 1,100 anxious students contacted Ip’s office for help over their delayed visas last year.