Curbs on foreign visitors to Britain, which include making families pay a cash bond to ensure that their foreign relatives leave, are to be proposed by the Home Office tomorrow.
The length of time for tourist visas is also to be cut from six months to three. In addition, the Home Office will announce proposals to create a special visa for businessmen and visas for one-off events including the 2012 Olympics. But the plan to make families who sponsor relatives coming from overseas pay a cash bond – which could be more than £1,000 – is likely to provoke fierce criticism from ethnic communities.
It could also affect Labour support among ethnic minority voters and threaten the party’s hold of some marginal seats with large