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We are
been resident in Bolivia for at least six months. certain that the numbers of applicants would diminish dramatically, although they may then appear at neighbouring posts unless they worked to identical guidelines.
7.
The intention of the PRC nationals is clear: they seek merely to use their Bolivian residence, Hong Kong visas and expensive return tickets to guarantee transit entry to other countries, intending to disappear into the undergrowth. We know that our Spanish and Mexican colleagues have effectively closed their doors to this traffic by imposing impossible paper clearing hurdles. The Argentine Consul General - in the new spirit of cooperations tells us that he must refer all PRC visa requests to Buenos Aires. Of the hundreds referred only nine PRC passport holders secured Argentine visas in the past year: all nine holders subsequently disappeared without trace when they reached Argentina.
8. Could you please consult Hong Kong and let us know if we may have authority to implement such a proposal.
If we cannot do so, any ideas on solving the problem would be most welcome.
9.
This
An obvious solution if we cannot introduce such a barrier as proposed above would be to provide us with extra staff for visa work. We are not sure whether the money collected for Hong Kong transit visas is credited to the FCO or to Hong Kong? But at £20 a time, the fees taken could easily cover the cost of a part-time or even full-time extra LE III. We estimate that the current flow of visa applications is taking up say 60% of the present LE officer's time. was certainly not anticipated during our 1988 Inspection. Authority and funding for an extra LE III would solve the problem. We are not due to be inspected under the new system until 1994. To expect us to carry the burden until then is unacceptable, since it is prejudicing our other responsibilities, particularly on Embassy administration.
CC:
P T Rouse Esq, SAmD, FCO
POD, FCO
KD, FCO
Consular Dept, FCO
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Alan W Shave
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