Manila named as UK visa hub for Asia Pacific region
March 24 2010 by Liam Clifford
Manila has been named a hub for UK visa applications. The city in the Philippines is expected to receive 89,000 UK visa applications this year from six different countries in the Asia Pacific region.
Barbara Woodward, director of UK’s
Border Agency International Group, said the Philippines was chosen as a regional
visa hub because Filipino employees speak good English, tend to be flexible in
their approach to work and are good communicators. She also named competitive
salaries and a strong underlying business culture as other reasons for the
success of Manila as a hub of UK visa applications.
Ms. Woodwood
confirmed that there have already been approximately 7,500 UK visa applications
from the Philippines for the first two months of 2010. The 80% approval rate for
visa applications from the Philippines is in line with the global approval rate
of 81%.
Most of the applications from the Philippines tend to be for
student visas and tourist visas. Mark Date, another UK border official, said
most of the 20% of visa application rejections were for financial reasons:
“London is not cheap and applicants must show financial means of support,” he
said.
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