Outgoing British High Commissioner to Ghana Jon Benjamin has dispelled the notion that the UK government does not want foreigners including Ghanaians on their soil, stating that close to 50,000 Ghanaian citizens had visas to travel to UK in the last three years.
“…We have approved visas for nearly 50,000 Ghanaian citizens in the last three years,” the diplomat said.
He said the UK government has approved more visa applications by Ghanaian citizens than the ones refused, with visa application approval rates averaging over 50 per cent contrary to some claims by some individuals.
He made this revelation during a speech at the Queen’s birthday party in Accra on Thursday, June 1.
He alluded to the visa irregularities involving some current and past government officials which the UK government frowns upon.
He said the High Commission has seen far too many cases of attempted visa fraud, “including by people occupying high positions commanding societal respect who seem to think that the rules apply to everybody else but themselves, or that they can break those rules with impunity”.
He emphasised: “We will not tolerate visa fraud against us and we will ban those who attempt it.”
For him, the UK government has “absolute sovereign right to control entry into our country by visitors, workers and would-be immigrants”.