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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Diane Taylor and Michael Goodier

Home Office urged to scrap long, expensive and ‘racist’ visa route

The sign outside Home Office UK Visas & Immigration Office at Lunar House in Croydon, London, UK.
There are 218,110 people on the 10-year route. A lack of income or professional qualifications makes them ineligible for other immigration schemes. Photograph: Guy Corbishley/Alamy

A long and expensive visa route for immigrants has been called racist after analysis showed most applicants who feel forced to go through it are people of colour.

The “10-year route” visa is used by hundreds of thousands of people who are not eligible for other immigration schemes because of a lack of income or professional qualifications. Many work in low-paid jobs, such as cleaning or care work. Other common routes to settlement in the UK take five years.

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