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London:
The UK authorities on Thursday issued recent steerage providing a one-month grace interval for all expiring or expired visas of international nationals, together with Indians, unable to return to their house international locations as a result of coronavirus pandemic, till August 31.
The extension, initially introduced till May 31 after which prolonged to July 31, has been prolonged by one other month and can apply to anybody whose go away to stay within the UK expired after January 24 and they’re nonetheless unable to depart the nation due to journey restrictions or self-isolation.
“As global travel restrictions have started to lift, it is right this generous, but temporary concession, be brought to a close with a month grace period until 31 August to make the necessary arrangements to return home,” a UK Home Office spokesperson mentioned.
“Right across the immigration system, this government has introduced measures to help those who have been impacted by global travel and health restrictions throughout this pandemic.”
“This has included providing over 40,000 visa extensions for those whose visas had expired between January 24, 2020, and July 31, 2020, and relaxing the rules on switching in the UK,” the spokesperson mentioned.
The Home Office mentioned that it’s going to additionally hold in place the comfort of the visa switching guidelines to allow those that want to keep within the UK to submit an utility to allow them to take action in the course of the grace interval.
It identified that anybody wanting to stay within the UK long-term ought to use the grace interval to use for the required go away to stay within the UK.
“We recognise that during this period individuals may have overstayed their leave due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic,” a Home Office steerage notes.
“Therefore, for individuals whose visa or leave expired between January 24, 2020, and July 31, 2020, there will be no future adverse immigration consequences solely on the basis of any periods of overstaying leave that took place between January 24, 2020, and August 31, 2020. We will formalise this specific commitment within the Immigration Rules,” the steerage notes.
It added {that a} “compassionate and pragmatic approach” shall be taken with requests for an indemnity to permit somebody to depart the UK on a later date than August 31, if they’re nonetheless unable to fly out in time.
UK Home Secretary Priti Patel has beforehand mentioned that the visa extensions are a method of giving individuals “peace of mind” in the course of the coronavirus lockdown the world over.
Many international nationals, together with Indians, discovered themselves unable to return house because the outbreak of coronavirus on account of flight cancellations and border restrictions.
The newest grace interval extension till August-end comes because the fifth part of the Vande Bharat mission to repatriate Indians stranded overseas will get underway, together with flights scheduled from London’s Heathrow airport again to varied Indian cities over the following few weeks.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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