The British Deputy High Commission, Chennai is the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

diplomatic mission with responsibility for southern India, namely, the states of

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the eleventh-largest state and the twelfth-most populated state in India with a geographical area of and 3 ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

and the union territory of

Puducherry Puducherry or Pondicherry may refer to: * Puducherry (union territory), a union territory of India ** Pondicherry, capital of the union territory of Puducherry ** Puducherry district, a district of the union territory of Puducherry ** Puducherry t ...

. It was formed in 1947 with Sir Christopher Masterman, CSI, CIE, as its inaugural holder, who served as Deputy High Commissioner until the following year. The Deputy High Commissioner is equivalent to a

Consul-General A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

, and reports to the British High Commission. The current Deputy High Commissioner is Oliver Ballhatchet. He succeeds Jeremy Pilmore-Bedford.

Location

The consular section of the British Deputy High Commission, Chennai, is located at 20 Anderson Road,

Nungambakkam Nungambakkam is a locality in downtown Chennai, India. The neighborhood abounds with multi-national commercial establishments, important government offices, foreign consulates, educational institutions, shopping malls, sporting facilities, to ...

. The British Council and the British Library are located at 737,

Anna Salai Anna Salai (), formerly known as St. Thomas Mount Road or simply Mount Road, is an arterial road in Chennai, India. It starts at the Cooum Creek, south of Fort St George, leading in a south-westerly direction towards St. Thomas Mount, and e ...

The Deputy High Commission

The consular section of the British Deputy High Commission provides consular assistance and protection for British citizens. The Chennai consular region has a trade office at Hyderabad and a Deputy High Commission office at

Bangalore Bangalore (), List of renamed places in India, officially Bengaluru (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan area, metropolitan population of a ...

, functioning from 2009, for which visas are issued from the Deputy High Commission office at Chennai. The visa application centres are located in Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi and

. ;List of Deputy High Commissioners Below is the list of deputy high commissioners of the British Deputy High Commission in Chennai (formerly Madras): # Sir Christopher Masterman, CSI, CIE (1947–1948) # Charles A. Gault, CBE (1948–1949) # James W. D. Locker, OBE (1949–1951) # George E. Crombie, CMG (1951–1953) # Leonard J. D. Wakely, CMG, OBE (1953–1957) # Ronald G. Chisholm (1957–1960) # Mark E. Allen, CMG, CVO (1960–1961) # William J. M. Paterson, CMG (1961–1965) # Clifford B. B. Heathcote-Smith, CBE (1965–1968) # Victor C. Martin, OBE (1968–1971) # John E. A. Miles, CBE (1971–1975) # Alfred C. Hall, CBE (1975–1977) # Neville A. I. French, CMG, LVO (1977–1980) # Arthur S.-M. Marshall, CBE (1980–1983) # Thomas Stubbs, OBE (1983–1986) # David K. Sprague, MVO (1986–1989) # Anthony B. N. Morey, CBE (1989–1991) # David Cockerham, CBE (1991–1994) # Sidney H. Palmer (1994–1999) # Michael E. J. Herridge (1999–2003) # Stuart H. Innes (2003–2005) # Michael L. Connor (2005–2009) # Michael S. Nithavrianakis (2009–2013) # Bharat Joshi (2013–October 2018) # Jeremy Pilmore-Bedford (October 2018–October 2019) #Oliver Ballhatchet, MBE (October 2019–present)

Functions

In 2006, the Deputy High Commission at Chennai processed 11,224 visa applications, next only to the Mumbai Centre. The High Commissions at Mumbai,

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Ho ...

and Kolkata processed 14,366, 6,688 and 1,328 applications, respectively. In 2008, of the 336,000 student visas issued in India, around 20 percent (67,000) were issued in Chennai. Of late, the visa rejection rate from the Deputy High Commission at Chennai has been increased. As part of the U.K. Border Agency's new guidelines, the Deputy High Commission started processing U.K. visa applications from the British High Commission in

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo m ...

, Sri Lanka, in a phased manner. As of 2011, the U.K. Border Agency in Chennai processed most visa applications from Sri Lanka. In December 2013, the Deputy High Commission launched a pilot passport pass-back service, a user-pays service that enables applicants to retain their passport for the majority of the application processing period, for the first time in the country.

The British Council

The

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

division of the Deputy High Commission is the United Kingdom's primary cultural relations organisation and is responsible for activities in education,

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...

, governance, science and the arts. The British Council office at Chennai covers the South Indian region. It plays an important role in helping Indian students pursue their studies in the United Kingdom. The council also manages the British Library. The British Council division publishes two magazines—''Postgraduate U.K.'' and ''Club U.K.'', the latter meant for Indian students. According to 2004 U.K. government figures, of the 14,000 Indian students studying in the United Kingdom, 43 percent hail from South India. In 2010, the British Council launched the British Council IELTS Scholarship Award with the objective of assisting Indian students to continue their postgraduate study at any university abroad.

References

External links

Official website of the British Deputy High Commission Chennai

Official website of the British Council
{{Chennai topics Diplomatic missions in India