Short-term UK visa refusals ‘skewed’ against global south

Conferences cancelled and research partnerships undermined by “opaque” system plagued by delays, finds Royal Society

Visa refusals by the Home Office for researchers visiting the UK “disproportionately” affect those from the global south, according to a report from the Royal Society.

The report found that the application process for visitor visas is “bureaucratic and unwieldy”. Royal Society president Adrian Smith warned that “putting up barriers to researcher mobility harms the UK”.