25 May 2007
Doha - The British Embassy's rollout of technology to capture biometric data from visa applicants in Qatar will be deployed in September this year, it was announced here yesterday.
The electronic Biometric scanning and Visa Application Centres are the two major changes the British Embassies across the region are introducing to their visa services with massive awareness campaign from now through to September.
"It is our determination to ensure that visiting the UK remains stress free, enjoyable and a memorable experience for people from this region starting the minute they apply for a visa, by implementing electronic biometric scanning and Visa Application Centres," Simons Collis, British Ambassador to Qatar told a news conference yesterday to announce the launch of biometric visas.
The number of visa applications hand out by UK embassy in Doha last year increased by about 30 per cent over the previous year with 18,000 visas issued and the growth is expected to continue.
Collis said the new system is global and is being implemented in over 70 different countries around the world and not just in one particular region.
He said that the system is quickly going to be seen as absolute standard practice and that several governments in the region have well advanced plans to introduce similar systems.
The captured data will be stored on a central database system in UK in accordance with the national data protection law, he said.
Jackie Colton, Deputy Director of Visa Services for Iran and the Gulf States from UKvisas, the organisation which delivers the British government visa operation explained that the process involves electronically scanning and capturing by computer applicants'-from five years of age and above- 10 fingers and a digital photo.
Applicants will need to attend a Visa Application Centre (VAC) to submit their application and Biometrics.
Since the single VAC currently operating in Doha was not designed to cope with the new system, another new, much larger and comfortable location is being planned, said Colton.
Doha - The British Embassy's rollout of technology to capture biometric data from visa applicants in Qatar will be deployed in September this year, it was announced here yesterday.
The electronic Biometric scanning and Visa Application Centres are the two major changes the British Embassies across the region are introducing to their visa services with massive awareness campaign from now through to September.
"It is our determination to ensure that visiting the UK remains stress free, enjoyable and a memorable experience for people from this region starting the minute they apply for a visa, by implementing electronic biometric scanning and Visa Application Centres," Simons Collis, British Ambassador to Qatar told a news conference yesterday to announce the launch of biometric visas.
The number of visa applications hand out by UK embassy in Doha last year increased by about 30 per cent over the previous year with 18,000 visas issued and the growth is expected to continue.
Collis said the new system is global and is being implemented in over 70 different countries around the world and not just in one particular region.
He said that the system is quickly going to be seen as absolute standard practice and that several governments in the region have well advanced plans to introduce similar systems.
The captured data will be stored on a central database system in UK in accordance with the national data protection law, he said.
Jackie Colton, Deputy Director of Visa Services for Iran and the Gulf States from UKvisas, the organisation which delivers the British government visa operation explained that the process involves electronically scanning and capturing by computer applicants'-from five years of age and above- 10 fingers and a digital photo.
Applicants will need to attend a Visa Application Centre (VAC) to submit their application and Biometrics.
Since the single VAC currently operating in Doha was not designed to cope with the new system, another new, much larger and comfortable location is being planned, said Colton.
© The Peninsula 2007
