UK mulling over changing tourist visa rules post Olympics

London, Aug. 12 (ANI): The British Government is considering extensive changes to tourist visa rules as the Olympics has sparked interest in visiting Britain.

Proposals are being looked at to simplify and shorten visa applications to bring Britain more closely in line with European countries that are part of the Schengen Agreement, which lets visitors roam across borders.

Tourism chiefs have complained that more must be done to attract high-spending Chinese and Russian visitors, The Independent reports.

Currently, Germany welcomes nine times as many Chinese visitors as Britain, while France has six times, the report said.

Hotels complain that some tour operators have dropped Britain from their European itineraries because of the extra accreditation needed to come here.

The suggestions on visa rules include sharing application centers with other European countries, translating forms into relevant languages and introducing a risk-based approach to speed up applications from some countries. (ANI)