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Flying Sikhs can`t be grounded: The Hindustan Times
Jalandhar, Oct 14: This is more of a nutcase study than a case study. One Sarabjit Singh was to fly to the UK on September 16 to `attend a wedding`. He had a valid passport and a genuine visa. Everything was going well until he was at the check-in counter.
Jalandhar, Oct 14: This is more of a nutcase study than a case study. One Sarabjit Singh was to fly to the UK on September 16 to 'attend a wedding'. He had a valid passport and a genuine visa. Everything was going well until he was at the check-in counter.
A letter he received from the British High Commission tells the rest of the story best:
"You attempted to check in without any baggage or wedding gifts…In addition, when British Airways declined to carry you on board their flight, you attempted to bribe one of their staff into giving you a boarding card…I do not find it credible that you would attend a wedding in the UK without any baggage."
Singh's visa was cancelled with prejudice — his chances of visiting the UK are thus reduced vastly. He’s also probably poorer by at least a few lakhs — there's no way the tout he paid off to get his visa will return the money. Considering the sum involved, it is difficult to understand his staggering naivete. But it's safe to say that there are plenty more like him. And plenty of touts thinking up new travel plans for them. One such plan is hidden (or revealed) by the classifieds section in newspapers. On September 11 (a randomly picked date), The Tribune carried 21 public notices by people wishing to change their names. The same edition carried just two 'situation vacant' ads, one property ad, one for the sale of some machinery. In short, there were a disproportionately high number of people wanting to change their names.
The reason is simple, says a travel trade source. "It's usually people who've had visa refusals stamped on their passports. Refusals work against you, so the obvious option is to apply for a fresh passport under a different name and go through the visa application process again."
Says Amarjeet Singh, the regional passport officer of Jalandhar: "We do have checks in place, but for something like a change of name, we have to depend heavily on police verification. But we do catch them every now and then."
But if a new passport is refused, there are ways of erasing the refusals from the old ones. A preferred method is to travel to a country where you don't sweat to get a visa, or get one on arrival. Several South-east Asian and African countries fall in this category, but there's an added clause: it must be a sticker visa. So that, explains an agent, it can be stuck over the page with the refusal on it. Voila! Mr Singh’s passport is as good as new again.
"You attempted to check in without any baggage or wedding gifts…In addition, when British Airways declined to carry you on board their flight, you attempted to bribe one of their staff into giving you a boarding card…I do not find it credible that you would attend a wedding in the UK without any baggage."
Singh's visa was cancelled with prejudice — his chances of visiting the UK are thus reduced vastly. He’s also probably poorer by at least a few lakhs — there's no way the tout he paid off to get his visa will return the money. Considering the sum involved, it is difficult to understand his staggering naivete. But it's safe to say that there are plenty more like him. And plenty of touts thinking up new travel plans for them. One such plan is hidden (or revealed) by the classifieds section in newspapers. On September 11 (a randomly picked date), The Tribune carried 21 public notices by people wishing to change their names. The same edition carried just two 'situation vacant' ads, one property ad, one for the sale of some machinery. In short, there were a disproportionately high number of people wanting to change their names.
The reason is simple, says a travel trade source. "It's usually people who've had visa refusals stamped on their passports. Refusals work against you, so the obvious option is to apply for a fresh passport under a different name and go through the visa application process again."
Says Amarjeet Singh, the regional passport officer of Jalandhar: "We do have checks in place, but for something like a change of name, we have to depend heavily on police verification. But we do catch them every now and then."
But if a new passport is refused, there are ways of erasing the refusals from the old ones. A preferred method is to travel to a country where you don't sweat to get a visa, or get one on arrival. Several South-east Asian and African countries fall in this category, but there's an added clause: it must be a sticker visa. So that, explains an agent, it can be stuck over the page with the refusal on it. Voila! Mr Singh’s passport is as good as new again.