British Embassy Manila becomes regional hub for Visa processing
Posted Under: News
The UK Border Agency has announced that the British Embassy in Manila will be the new regional hub for visa processing starting January 2009.
The Manila post will handle UK visa applications for Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea. Other regional offices may also submit its visa applications for processing later this year.
British Ambassador Peter Beckingham welcomes the new developments in the British Embassy’s Manila post.
“This expansion spells a big vote of confidence in Manila as a major hub for business process outsourcing,” Beckingham said.
“The development reinforces the sizeable outsourcing to the Philippines by UK companies and organisations, ranging from financial services to publishing and the media.”
The embassy has announced that it is re-structuring its visa section and hiring additional staff to accommodate the expected increase in the volume of work.
Last year the embassy moved to brand new secure premises in McKinley Hill, Taguig City, and construction work is now being carried out to enlarge the office space.
Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo expressed his delight that the British Embassy is joining many other major organisations and companies in entrusting and transferring their operations to the Philippines.
Comment
Manila is an ideal location for the regional hub. The embassy staff are experienced in dealing with large volumes of applications, with the UK being a popular destination for Filipino workers, visitors and students.
The Philippines is the third largest English speaking country in the world and has a large pool of graduates.
Reader Comments
My wife is applying for a spouse visa to the UK, she is Japanese.
We are not happy about the visa being processed in The Philippines. We feel they would not offer the quality of service that Japan would.
We had a query with our visa, so we emailed both the Japan and Philippine visa office, the Japan office replied the next day, but we are still awaiting a reply from the Philippine office, well over a week after we sent the email.
Also we have concerns about the fact that my wifes passport is being sent overseas to the philippines. I know there is more chance of the passport being lost on the way to/ in the Philippines.
Does anyone else have these concerns?
Actually Asian Development Bank is in the Philippines instead of Japan and other Asian Countries, and it is doing well here and expats are happy living here where everything is cheap without comprmising quality. Filipinos speak very good English… Regarding processing, don’t worry about the delay, just expect it. One hub for four countries? hmmmm…