People who have been refused a UK visa for a shirt visit to see family members in Britain will no longer have the right to make a full appeal of the decision in the courts.
UK immigration minister Damian Green made the announcement this week (May 10th), confirming that the vast majority of failed applicants will have to re-apply instead of going through a taxpayer-subsidised appeal process.
Mr Green stated: "We are not stopping anybody visiting family in the UK; if an applicant meets the rules they will be granted a visa.
"However, it is grossly unfair that UK taxpayers have had to foot the huge bill for foreign nationals who, in many cases, have simply failed to provide the correct evidence to support their application."
He added that "tens of millions of pounds" will be saved through these changes, while immigration tribunals will also have more time to conducted the "much more important work they were intended for".
Since the year 2000, when full appeal rights were introduced for family visit visas, the number of appeals made has risen to around 50,000, despite the fact that it was estimated the change would only result in a maximum of 20,000 appeals a year.
Unfortunately, the cost of conducting these appeals has proved to be too much for the government and resources are no longer capable of processing them.