JEDDAH, 24 October 2007 — The newly appointed British Consul General Kate Rudd, as her first official engagement, launched the UK Visa Application Center (VAC) in Jeddah yesterday.
The center, which is run by the consulate’s commercial partners VFS Global Ltd, will greatly ease the process and issue of visas to applicants.
To date, the UK government has opened 110 VACs around the world. Saudi Arabia is the last country in the Gulf region to receive the new service and, said Rudd, would receive the benefit of the experience gained from the opening of other offices in the region.
“The relationship between our two kingdoms is extremely good,” Rudd told journalists at the launch. “The number of Saudi visa applications — particularly students — is up. The new office makes the process of getting the visa easier and more pleasurable.”
The application process has been streamlined, opening hours extended and an Executive Service introduced where a fixed fee secures delivery of the completed visa to the applicant’s address. Visa forms can be downloaded from www.visa4uk.fco.gov.uk and filled in prior to visiting the center.
Each applicant for a visa will have to supply biometric data in the form of a photo and a set of 10 fingerprints every time a visa is applied for. The process, demonstrated to the press by consular officials, is entirely digitized and takes just a few seconds.
Ian Marson, regional deputy director of visa services, explained that no data was kept at the center or on any hard drive locally. “It is all encrypted and transmitted to the UK where it is held under the terms of the Data Protection Act to ensure security of information,” he said.
“The biometric process makes it easier to identify trusted travelers,” said Rudd. “As a result, we can issue five- and 10-year visas, which means applicants only have to supply the information perhaps once a decade.” She added that the new visas would be transferable to new passports during the period of the visa’s validity.
Asked if the new visa system has any message to Saudi travelers, Rudd said that it did and that is was basically: “Welcome.” She added that all UK citizens would be required to have biometric data-based passports by 2009 and that many countries around the world were moving to the system.
Nicholas Robbins, senior management officer, said that the UK visa system was widely recognized as the best in the world. “Ninety-eight percent of successful applications are processed and returned the next day,” he said.
The Visa Section at the British Consulate will be closed for three days starting on Nov. 3 to allow the transfer of equipment. The new center opens for business on Nov. 6.
“From our experience with the other centers in the Gulf, there will probably be a few days of teething problems,” Marson said. “I would advise visa applicants that if their journey is not urgent, delay your application a few days until the system settles in.”
