UKBA to be scrapped soon

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-21941395

I just saw this on the news. Does anyone know what this might mean for those of us that are currently waiting for their visa? Will this effect processing times?

I love Transpondia's take on this (from Facebook)

"News flash!

About 5 years ago there was a Home Secretary called John Reid. During his tenure, he went to the national media and announced that the Border and Immigration Agency (BIA) was 'unfit for purpose' and needed to be a separate executive agency of the UK government.

Bear in mind that the BIA had been created out of the ashes of the former Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) a scant 14 months earlier. At that time, we saw the BIA get new stationery, a new web site, new business cards, and new job titles.

So they renamed the BIA to the UK Border Agency and made it a stand-alone executive agency. That was in 2008 and once again we saw new stationery, a new web site, new business cards, new job titles, new regional offices, and for the very first time, new uniforms on front-line personnel.

Fast forward to last year when the Home Secretary went to the national media and announced that UKBA didn't work, and it should be split into two parts: the Border Force and the Border Agency. And so off they went and what did the Border Force get? You guessed it: new stationery, a new web site, new business cards, new job titles, and new uniforms.

That brings us to today. Earlier today the Home Secretary stood before Parliament and announced that UKBA was 'unfit for purpose'. The cure is to integrate UKBA into the Home Office, and presumably new stationery, new business cards, new job titles, and new uniforms. The press release indicated that we'll get further details after the Easter Holiday.

That's a full circle, peeps. All 360 degrees of it.

There's a nagging question at the bottom of this. How come it's always *people* in UKBA's backlog while new stationery, new business cards, new job titles, web sites and the like are in the front of the queue?"

I think it will take a while before they scrap it, at least 2014, Not sure if they will expediate this.

I am not clear on how this will be splitted into. back to BIA, UKVISAS and Customs or something different.

I do hope thier exorbitant fees come down.

I do hope thier exorbitant fees come down.

Ha. How do you think they are going to pay for the costs of this restructuring?

MalcolmB - BINGO!!!

Basically, we, the immigrants, are buying them all new notepads, ipads, and... kindles.

I do hope thier exorbitant fees come down.

 

Dare to dream.

Anyway, the timing is, to me, rather interesting.  When I was in the Glasgow PEO office last week, I heard one of the security staff there talking, at great length, about the strike that they were holding the next day.

You'll not convince me this is anything other than pure politics. 

I do hope thier exorbitant fees come down.

They have to pay for all the new stationary, uniforms and business cards somehow......    

Plus they have to pay for someone to update the website..... design a new logo..... decide on a name...... so much to do......