UK Government Faces Concerns About Chinese Visa Situation Ahead of London 2012

The UK government has said there are reasons for rejecting UK visa applications amid concerns in China about the number of rejections for visas to attend the Olympics.

At the opening of the London 2012 international media centre, pilule a journalist from Xinhua, anabolics a major Chinese news agency, store asked the Minister for Sport, Hugh Robertson, why Chinese ticket holders were being refused visas to enter the UK to attend The Games.

The topic is being widely debated in China and is trending on has become a hot topic in China, trending on Weibo (the Chinese equivalent of twitter).

It has been reported that some of the most respected Chinese citizens who had already bought tickets for London 2012 were finding their visa applications had been rejected and many of them did not know why.

Robertson said anybody’s visa application could be refused and each case needed to be looked at individually

“Anybody can be denied, but they are rejected for a reason…that can be investigated,” he said.

According to Home Office statistics, more than 10,000 Chinese nationals were refused UK visas in 2011. But 95 percent of 2011 Chinese applications, 205,000 people, were approved for a visa.

Of those applications, 90 percent were granted within eight working days.

“There has been no change in the rules for the Olympics, everything is the same and every application is considered on its merits,” a Home Office spokesman said.

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