British Embassy opens visa application center in Cebu



The British Embassy has opened in Cebu on Wednesday its second visa application center (VAC) in the Philippines to make it easier for residents in that area lodge their applications.
 
The officials who formally opened the center were:
  • British Ambassador Stephen Lillie;
  • Jonathan Sedgwick, the UK Border Agency’s International Operations and Visas Director who is visiting from London, and
  • Zubin Karkaria, Chief Executive Officer of the UK Government’s commercial partner VFS Global which will be running the application center.

In a news release, the embassy said visa applications lodged in Cebu will be sent to the British Embassy in Manila for processing and returned to Cebu for collection.

The embassy said the VAC is the first ‘user-pays’ UK visa application center to be launched globally. Those who pay an additional fee can now lodge their application in Cebu.
 
Details of the new Cebu City UK visa application centre and other premium services are on the VFSwebsite.
 
In his speech during the opening, Lillie said: "The UK is very much open for business and open for many more Filipinos to come and visit, study and do business with us. The opening of this new visa application center in Cebu will make that a lot easier."
 
“The Cebu VAC and other new services offered by the UK Border Agency in Manila reflect the increasing strength of the relationship between the Philippines and the UK," Lillie added.

He said the UK welcomes "the growing interest from the Philippines in the UK as a destination to visit and do business in, and I am very pleased to open this new visa application in Cebu to help support this growth. I hope that it will lead to an increase in visitors to the UK from the Visayas region.”

The embassy noted that a growing number of Filipinos are visiting the UK.

In 2011, the number of UK visas issued to Filipinos was eight percent higher than in 2010 and 16% more than in 2009.
 
Lillie said UK is not just a "superb location for tourism and recreation" but also a "natural choice for investment, education, financial affairs and industrial collaboration."

"As the world’s seventh largest economy and sixth largest manufacturer, our companies lead the world across a range of sectors, be it energy, aerospace, software or medical science," Lillie noted.
 
"We are culturally rich, with cutting-edge film, music, fashion and architecture. And we’re a great place to study, being home to some of the world’s most historic and most respected universities," he added.
 
Meanwhile, Sedgwick, the UK Border Agency’s International Operations and Visas Director, said: "The new VAC will be a more convenient and accessible service to those in Cebu and the surrounding region and will make the start of their journey to the UK an easier one.”
 
Karkaria, on the other hand, said: "We are committed to partner the UK Border Agency in offering convenient, comfortable and secure visa application services for UK visa applicants, and are sure the new centre in Cebu will significantly enhance the convenience for many applicants from Philippines.”

For UK visa guidance and information on how to make an application, visit the UK Border Agencywebsite. - VVP, GMA News
 

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