Asked by: Suzanne Webb (Conservative - Stourbridge)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support British nationals overseas whose visas have expired during the lockdown period; and what recent discussions his Department has had with its overseas counterparts on ensuring that those British nationals are not unfairly sanctioned by those states.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has lobbied countries across the globe to ensure that British nationals who are waiting to be repatriated are not regarded as over-stayers and will not suffer any immigration penalties. We advise British nationals who are in this position to contact the relevant immigration authority in the country in which they are located. In a number of countries, including Thailand and Indonesia, we have provided British national travellers with expiring visas with letters and information notes from the Consulate to support their visa extension requests.