Hello, England

From The Star: Malaysians can visit and remain in Britain for up to six months:

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has retained its visa-free status with Britain.

This means that Malaysians can visit and remain in Britain without a visa for up to
six months.

The decision was announced in the House of Commons by British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith late yesterday (11.30pm Malaysian time).

British High Commissioner Boyd McCleary briefed Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim on his government’s decision yesterday.

“I am pleased with this result. It reflects the hard work that both we and the Malaysian Government have put into this issue over the last few months,” McCleary said.

A senior Wisma Putra official, when contacted, said Malaysia welcomed the decision and the challenge would be to further reduce the number of Malaysians who overstayed or worked illegally in Britain.

Malaysia was in a group of 11 non-European countries whose visa-exempt status was reviewed by Britain from mid-2008.

Nationals from these countries were said to pose a risk of illegal immigration, crime and security, and all 11 countries were given a six-month mitigation period to significantly reduce the risks.

Britain had given Malaysia until December to prevent illegal immigration and improve passport security, crime and anti-terrorism measures and cooperate in deporting Malaysians who overstayed.

Among the remedial measures taken by Malaysia was improved security at the KL International Airport to ensure that only genuine travellers flew into Britain, a move which was welcomed by the UK Border Agency, a shadow agency of the British Home Office.

Visa-free access for visitors for up to six months will also remain for Botswana, Brazil, Mauritius, Namibia and Trinidad and Tobago.

The countries which failed Bri- tain’s visa-waiver test were Bolivia, Lesotho, South Africa, Swaziland and Venezuela.

Cool. We're better than Venezuela. All the signs are pointing to a visit to the UK:

1. Visa-free access
2. Air Asia's new flight route to London
3. GBP so cheap

Too bad about the winter storms.