afrol News, 21 May - The deadline has set in for nationals of Lesotho, South Africa and Swaziland, who will now have to adhere to strict visa rules to enter the United Kingdom.

The UK visa list which requires nationals of of the three Southern African countries to obtain a visitor visa before entering the UK even if they had an existing entry stamp to the UK in their passport, will be effective from 1 July this year.

According to British officials, there will be no more exemptions as transitional arrangements had now come to an end.

"From 1 July 2009, all nationals of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland will need a visa to travel to the UK without exception as the transitional arrangements will have ended," a statement declared, further saying that from the declared date, all individuals from the three countries will instead need to queue to see an officer at passport control, regardless of whether they had previously been under the transitional arrangement before.

The British government announced a list of countries under scrutiny late last year, with a number of states such as Botswana, Mauritius and others taking a leap to make corrections and improvements in their passports and issuance.

Lesotho has been said to be one of the countries with high risks of its passports falling into the hands of undeserving foreigners and possible criminals.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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