Torment : Getting an United Kingdom visa !

Obtaining a visa for entering the country – officially named as the United Kingdom of Great Britain a.k.a England more popularly,  is getting annoying, troublesome and thought provoking. Lastly Turkish football club Eskişehirspor experienced the all- familiar trouble upon entering UK for its Uefa game with Scotland’s St. Johnstone.

Eskişehirspor from Turkey is the latest victim of United Kingdom – unfortunately known solely as England by the majority – the country that implements world’s most stringent visa policy. Turkish football club Eskişehirspor will face Scotlands St. Johnstone for an UEFA Cup game on 29th July.

For obtaining visa for cultural and sportive purposes, in this case an international football club’s game in Scotland, you have to get visa for Scotland from English authorities. In order to obtain the visa you have to wait hours, follow boring procedure like giving photos and finger prints and still there is the possibility they won’t give you your visa. These are exactly what Eskişehirspor had to endure very recently.

Its understandable that UK wants to protect their borders from immigrants, the new visas have increased security measures after September 11. If you apply for entering Uk as tourist, businessman, athlete or for starting a business you may experience with these procedures. However especially if you are a Turkish or Ukranian citizen the policy is in the most strict way possible.

Although justified in some perpectives the visa procedure in UK has become seriously bothersome. Commercial relations between Turkey and United Kingdom improved upon arrival of David Cameron at UK government. Cameron-led Conservative-Liberal coalition government came to the realization that England will benefit from trade and relations with Turkey.

However relations between the countries mired only at commercial level tend to be fragile. If England desires a more effective partnership with Turkey it has to alter the policy towards Turkish citizens.

The kind of problems you get at obtaining UK Turkey visa

The simplest example is what has happened to Eskişehirspor. Britain Home Office (interior ministry) may say that this is the standard procedure we apply, but this practice has reached a very derogatory level.  As a tourist who wants to visit England, Scotland or Wales you encounter many problems right at the start. Your title deeds, bank account, how much salary you receive are asked. British authorities at foreign offices treat you like an illegal immigrant.  ” Are you a member of an organization on the British Department of State Terrorist Exclusion List? ” style – questions makes you feel guilty.

Let’s say you have received your visa and want to head for Heatrow, Gatwick or you want to take the train at Garre De Lyon in Paris using the Eurostar. The officer at the Home Office treats you in a very rough fashion, and if you start to discuss the officer takes your passport and then begins filling a number of papers.

So you are not only denied for entrance but also become banned for 10 years. So basically your destiny and future lies between the lips of an simple officer. He shapes your destiny and your future, if he is having a good day you are allowed to enter if not you get a ban for 10 years.

If you are married to a citizen of the United Kingdom , you face the danger of not being able to see your wife for years. They don’t give you a visa on suspicion of sham marriage. There are many sham marriages but real marriages end because of this atrocity at Home Office. Children cannot see one of their parents for years.

This a violent contradiction to all of regulations the United Kingdom signed at the United Nations and the European Union. It is even contradictional to UK laws which claim to be humanitarian. An investigation can be conducted fairly easily to find out if a marriage is sham or real, but to judge at spot without any proper investigation is a crime and violation of most basic of human rights.

But what does the Home Office actually do ?

Apart from not allowing tourists, businessmen, athletes into the United Kingdom and separating married couples the  Home Office grants entrance each year to app. 25000-30000 immigrants, most of them Africa origined, whose fingerprints haven’t been taken or are non-existent.

These people reach England through various ways and Home Office is then obliged to give the migrants a residential permit card because it has no clue where they came from!

Furthermore, in the streets of major English British cities such as Manchester or Birmingham, people walk around in Taliban outfits but owning a British passport.

For a comfortable journey to Britain people have nothing left to do other than sit and wait that Scotland, Wales and  Northern Ireland declare their independence through referendum !

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