Tourists from Trinidad and Tobago have been barred from entering Britain without a visa in a bid to shut off fraudulent asylum claims from the Caribbean country.
Before today's crackdown, Trinidadians and Tobagonians only needed an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) - which was introduced in January for all visa-exempt nations - to get into the UK.
But now, the Home Office has announced that people from the island nation will require visas - joining Jamaica and Dominica in a short list of Commonwealth nations without visa-free travel to the UK.
The move came after a staggering near-ten-fold increase in asylum applications from Trinidad and Tobago - from 49 between 2015 and 2019, to 439 across the last year.
The British High Commission in Trinidad and Tobago said on Wednesday that the ban had come into force immediately.
But in the meantime, there will be a six-week transition period lasting until April 23 "during which time visitors who booked their travel and obtained an ETA before the changes can still enter the UK without a visa"
The High Commission also stressed that the relationship between Trinidad and Tobago and the UK remained a "strong and friendly one".
While a Government spokesman told The Times: "There has been a significant increase in the number of Trinidad and Tobago nationals coming to the UK as visitors only to claim asylum on arrival, which constitutes a misuse of our immigration system."
MORE ON BRITAIN'S MIGRATION CRISIS:
Opposition MP Rodney Charles said the news sent a message that the country "must be more nimble, intentional, nuanced and sophisticated to navigate the turbulent, 'might is right' season of Trump-era geopolitics".
"If, as reported, almost 800 [Trinidad and Tobago] citizens in the last two years attempted to 'abuse' the immigration system in the UK, then they have affected the immigration status of the remaining 1.4 million of us," he said.
"In the unforgiving geopolitics of the Trump era, we must all be mindful of the fact that even individual actions can have national consequences."
The closing of the tourism-to-asylum loophole is the second major migrant crackdown from Labour today.
Now, the Home Office will force care sector employers to hire migrant workers already in Britain before recruiting from abroad in a fresh bid to curtail the number of people arriving in the UK through legal routes.
The Home Office is worried that employers are abusing the Health & Care Visa route - which has let care businesses recruit from abroad by sponsoring workers from overseas.
As many as 745,000 people - that's workers and their dependents - have entered the UK on such a visa up to the end of 2024.
Alongside Health & Care Visas, a Freedom of Information request, submitted by the Centre for Migration Control has found a spate of examples of halal or kebab shops sponsoring "skilled worker" visas between 2021 and 2023.
SIGN UP TO GBN MEMBERSHIP AND WATCH BRITAIN'S IMMIGRATION TRAP HERE
Find Out More...
Before today's crackdown, Trinidadians and Tobagonians only needed an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) - which was introduced in January for all visa-exempt nations - to get into the UK.
But now, the Home Office has announced that people from the island nation will require visas - joining Jamaica and Dominica in a short list of Commonwealth nations without visa-free travel to the UK.
The move came after a staggering near-ten-fold increase in asylum applications from Trinidad and Tobago - from 49 between 2015 and 2019, to 439 across the last year.
The British High Commission in Trinidad and Tobago said on Wednesday that the ban had come into force immediately.
But in the meantime, there will be a six-week transition period lasting until April 23 "during which time visitors who booked their travel and obtained an ETA before the changes can still enter the UK without a visa"
The High Commission also stressed that the relationship between Trinidad and Tobago and the UK remained a "strong and friendly one".
While a Government spokesman told The Times: "There has been a significant increase in the number of Trinidad and Tobago nationals coming to the UK as visitors only to claim asylum on arrival, which constitutes a misuse of our immigration system."
MORE ON BRITAIN'S MIGRATION CRISIS:
- Almost one million migrants 'can barely speak English' as fury grows over new arrivals' failure to integrate
- First-generation migrants to make up 25% of Britain by 2035 as population boom takes UK to 73 million, report shows
- 'They're unvetted!' Local FUMES at asylum seekers being offered luxury flats
Opposition MP Rodney Charles said the news sent a message that the country "must be more nimble, intentional, nuanced and sophisticated to navigate the turbulent, 'might is right' season of Trump-era geopolitics".
"If, as reported, almost 800 [Trinidad and Tobago] citizens in the last two years attempted to 'abuse' the immigration system in the UK, then they have affected the immigration status of the remaining 1.4 million of us," he said.
"In the unforgiving geopolitics of the Trump era, we must all be mindful of the fact that even individual actions can have national consequences."
The closing of the tourism-to-asylum loophole is the second major migrant crackdown from Labour today.
Now, the Home Office will force care sector employers to hire migrant workers already in Britain before recruiting from abroad in a fresh bid to curtail the number of people arriving in the UK through legal routes.
The Home Office is worried that employers are abusing the Health & Care Visa route - which has let care businesses recruit from abroad by sponsoring workers from overseas.
As many as 745,000 people - that's workers and their dependents - have entered the UK on such a visa up to the end of 2024.
Alongside Health & Care Visas, a Freedom of Information request, submitted by the Centre for Migration Control has found a spate of examples of halal or kebab shops sponsoring "skilled worker" visas between 2021 and 2023.
SIGN UP TO GBN MEMBERSHIP AND WATCH BRITAIN'S IMMIGRATION TRAP HERE
Find Out More...