World Cup 2019: Around 80,000 Indians likely to travel to UK to support Virat Kohli and Co.

The 12th edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup is all set to take place from 30 May and is scheduled to be hosted by England and Wales. With Indians known to love, follow and worship cricket, the number of visitors travelling to the United Kingdom (UK) has also seen an increase.

According to the British High Commission (BHC) spokesperson, around 80,000 Indians may travel for the World Cup to support Virat Kohli and his 'Men in Blue'. As high as 3,500 Indians are applying for a UK visa on a daily basis.

“This is based on previous India-UK travel trends and the previous numbers of Indians travelling for previous tournaments. We don’t have a global estimate for how many people in total will travel, but it is extremely likely that India will be the highest number – given the size of the market and passion for the sport in India, and the great flight connections between India and UK,” the BHC spokesperson added.

#TeamIndia for @ICC #CWC19 #MenInBlue  pic.twitter.com/rsz44vHpge

— BCCI (@BCCI) April 15, 2019

VFS Global, UK’s visa services partner has already processed over 2 lakh visa applications. In March and April alone, over 132,000 UK visa applications were submitted at VFS Global, which accounted for around 65 per cent of the overall UK visa application. 

BHC said they targeted Indians through campaigns running since February to travel to the UK for the World Cup matches. "Since February UKVI has been running our cricket campaign across India aimed specifically at Indians travelling for the cricket. The campaign is ongoing - follow the hashtag #SummerofCricketINUK on our social media channels. From February until April, we held seven events (including a cricket match at Talkatora Cricket Ground) and delivered a social media campaign encouraging customers to apply early – UK immigration rules allow Indians to apply up to three months in advance".

UKVI is also encouraging late bookers to use Priority Visa. The applicants who go for this option get to learn about their application status within five days instead of 15.

"From April until the end of the tournament, we will continue the second part of our campaign – encouraging late bookers to use Priority Visa. This will get a decision in 5 working days (rather than the standard 15 working days) and means everyone can get a decision in time for the match they want to see," the spokesperson added.