A
(b) we reject the Home Office's proposal for making prior entry
clearance obligatory for all WHMs;
(c) we reserve our position on some other proposed changes, and
on how the WHM scheme might be reformed in the longer term
including possible extension to non-Commonwealth nationals.
The Departments listed at the head of this minute agree.
BACKGROUND
3.
No-see
para q
M.
The Home Office are concerned at the number of people, especially Nigerians, Ghanaians, Malaysians and Hong Kong BDTCS, who arrive in Britain as visitors and then apply to switch to
WHM status. In a paper (ref No. IND92/40) to be taken at the
IND Board on 9 September Home Office officials plan to invite their Ministers to agree to:
(i) introduce a no-switching requirement;
(ii) introduce an entry clearance requirement;
(iii) limit the scheme to unmarried people and childless couples both of whom are entering as working holidaymakers;
(iv) reduce the maximum period allowed to 1 year (from 2) from the date of the first entry to the United Kingdom, and the age
span from 17-27 to 18-25;
(v) when announcing these changes, to state a willingness to
consider extending the scheme to non-Commonwealth countries (on certain conditions).