Linea Dishena 

Outgoing British high commissioner to Namibia Charles Moore says the United Kingdom is working on making its visa process more convenient to Namibian travellers.

Speaking when he bid farewell to President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah on Wednesday at State House, Moore said the UK introduced a visa regime for Namibian travellers in July 2023, following abuse of the non-visa requirement, which resulted in a high number of asylum-seekers since 2016.

He revealed that by July 2023, over 1 000 Namibians had sought asylum in the UK.

Moore noted that although the visa regime was effective by almost completely stopping Namibians seeking asylum in the UK, it had inconvenienced and is costly to genuine Namibian travellers, including businesspeople, senior government officials, ministers and anybody who wanted to travel to the UK.

“We recognised it has an impact on genuine Namibian travellers, and it is just unfortunate… We are trying to make the visa process user-friendly, quicker and less inconvenient for Namibian travellers, and hopefully it won’t put people off as genuine travellers,” he said.

Before the visa requirements, Namibians could travel to the UK for a limited period as non-visa nationals. Currently, Namibians have to apply for visas online and provide their biometrics and passport, which the UK government aims to process within 15 working days. Applicants can apply up to three months in advance of travel.

Moore emphasised that the visa regime did not imply blame on any of the two governments, noting that there was nothing the two governments could do to stop people from seeking asylum.

-Nampa