$2,000 British visitor visa bond proposed

LONDON, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- British families whose non-European relatives visit would pay a $2,000 bond under immigration proposals announced Tuesday.

Non-European tourists also could stay only three months versus the current six months under the plans, which aim to curtail illegal immigration and employment, London's Daily Telegraph said.

Similar measures where shelved in 2000 due to protests. Some deemed the plan impractical.

"If you have for example a big wedding in Leicester you are dealing with 20 people coming and therefore if you have to put up a bond of a ($2,000) for each, it's a huge amount of money," Keith Vaz, chairman of the home affairs select committee, told BBC Radio 4.