Non-EU tourists could see their visas to the United Kingdom halved from six to three months in an effort to prevent overstaying, the British Home Office said today.
It also wants to discuss charging some UK families a cash deposit of up to £1,000 sterling for every relative visiting the country from outside the EU. Families whose relatives fail to return home on time run the risk of forfeiting the money.
As well as shortening standard tourist visas, the government is looking at introducing special visas for one-off events such as the London Olympics in 2012. Specific business visas could also be introduced.
The proposals were contained in a consultation paper unveiled by British Immigration Minister Liam Byrne today.
Applications for visas have gone up by about 50 per cent in the past five years, and more than two million were issued last year.
The proposals were criticised by the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, an independent voluntary organisation.
The plans would "disproportionally discriminate against traditional communities like people from the Indian sub-continent, the Caribbean islands and Africa," a spokesman told BBC radio.