Friday, June 3 2005 08:48 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

London: British immigration staff based in India has been following an 'illegal policy' of barring young, single and marriageable-age boys and girls from entering the UK on the presumption that they would get married and settle down in the country, an independent watchdog monitoring the work of UK Visas has revealed.

Jamaican singles also face the problem, according to a report submitted to the British Foreign Secretary Charles Clarke by the immigration lawyer Fiona Lindsley.

Lildsley's report recommending that such practice should be stopped immediately.

Lindsley, whose report covered the operation of the visa system in 2003, also revealed that the refusal rate for applications has soared from 6.5 per cent four years ago to more than 15 per cent in 2003 out of 2 million applications.

She disclosed that 28,000 people who tried to come to Britain as family visitors or students were unlawfully denied the right to appeal against refusal decisions.

She said this is the result of the misinterpretation of simple, objective rules about the length of student courses and named family relationships.

As the official monitor, Lindsley discovered that the refusal of a visa on grounds of being "young, single and of marriageable age" was the standard wording used in British consulates in India and Jamaica for turning down applications to visit and study in Britain.

"I can only interpret the inclusion of such wording as reflecting a position that it is not desirable that applicants might be given the opportunity to meet British citizens or those settled in the UK as this might then lead to marriage," Lindsley said in her annual report.

"In none of these refusals was it the case that the entry clearance officer contended that the applicant had a particular person that they might marry or any particular marriage plans that would make it improbable they would leave at the end of their visit."

The monitor said, "As the right to marry is a fundamental human right and the immigration rules allow entry to Britain as a spouse or fiance, it is illegal to attempt to limit the opportunities for such unions to come about."

She also voiced concerns about refusals of visas to women wishing to visit British boyfriends whom they met while the men were on holiday. This was forcing many young women to marry older men before they travelled to the UK.

The monitor said this increases the chances that they would end up in a potentially abusive relationship.