DUSHANBE, April 9, Asia-Plus — The British Embassy in Dushanbe has started issuing visas for Tajik nationals, according to the Tajik MFA.
Davlat Nazriyev, the head of the MFA information department, said that the British Embassy sent an appropriate note on this subject to the ministry yesterday. “It is a positive step on the part of the British Embassy,” Nazriyev said. “Before that, our citizens had to go to Almaty, Kazakhstan or Moscow that cost them much.”
According to him, only diplomats, public servants, students and those who have valid reason for urgently traveling to the United Kingdom currently may apply for UK visas to the embassy.
We will recall that diplomatic relations between Tajikistan and the Great Britain were established on January 15, 1992, and the British Embassy was opened in Dushanbe on December 20, 2001.
As it had been reported earlier, important changes to the application process for UK visas for residents of Tajikistan were made in August 2007. The British Embassy in Moscow and the British Consulate in Almaty remained responsible for issuing visas for people resident in Tajikistan but, with effect from August 2 for Almaty, and August 18 for Moscow, all British visas require biometric data from applicants.
The British Government introduced biometric data collection (finger scans and digital photographs) as part of a world-wide biometric identification process, designed to protect an individual”s identity, facilitate future entry into the UK, combat visa fraud and abuse of the UK”s immigration and asylum systems. All visa applicants needed to travel to Almaty or Moscow in person to provide finger scans and digital photographs, with the exception of: government ministers of cabinet rank visiting the UK on official business; diplomats and senior UN officials visiting the UK on official business; and children under 5.
