The British Deputy High Commission,

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

diplomatic mission A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually denotes ...

with responsibility for the state of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

and the union territory of

Puducherry Puducherry or Pondicherry may refer to: Places in India * Puducherry (union territory), formerly known as Pondicherry ** Puducherry (city), capital of the union territory of Puducherry ** Puducherry district The Puducherry District, also know ...

. 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 a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries. A consu ...

, and reports to the

British High Commission A British High Commission is a British diplomatic mission, equivalent to an embassy, found in countries that are members of the Commonwealth of Nations. Their general purpose is to provide diplomatic relationships as well as travel information, ...

. The current Deputy High Commissioner is Halima Holland. The first female head of the Chennai mission, she succeeds Oliver Ballhatchet.

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 multinational commercial establishments, important government offices, foreign consulates, educational institutions, shopping malls, sporting facilities, tou ...

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

Anna Salai Anna Salai (), named for C. N. Annadurai, 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 towa ...

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 Deputy High Commission office at

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

and a Deputy High Commission office at

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

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

Kochi Kochi ( , ), List of renamed Indian cities and states#Kerala, formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the Ernakulam district, district of Ernakulam in the ...

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–November 2024) # Halima Holland (November 2024–Present) (First women head of mission in Chennai)

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 Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

and

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

processed 14,366, 6,688 and 1,328 applications, respectively. In 2008, of the 336,000 student visas issued in India, around 20 per cent (67,000) were issued in Chennai. Of late, the

visa Visa most commonly refers to: * Travel visa, a document that allows entry to a foreign country * Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Vi ...

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, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, 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 lang ...

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 that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

, 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 per cent 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