Britons sponsoring visits by overseas relatives will be fined at least £1,000 if their relatives overstay or work illegally, under new immigration proposals published yesterday.

Liam Byrne, the Immigration Minister, published a range of proposals including reducing the length of a visitors visa to three months, raising the age for a marriage visa and the creation of an official forum that will offer guidance to ministers on the impact of immigration on existing communities.

Among the proposals were further measures to ensure that foreigners do not travel to Britain unless entitled to do so.

Immigration overstayers will have their bank accounts frozen and families of overstayers will be barred from bringing in other relatives in future.

Universities and employers will be banned from bringing in people in future if foreigners they have sponsored already fail to return home.

The measures are planned as the Government prepares for a huge increase in the number of people heading for Britain. In 2005 11.8 million travellers entered Britain from outside the European Economic Area and, in 2005-2006 two million visas were granted.

Mr Byrne disclosed that movements in and out of Britain will increase by 50 per cent over the next seven years.

Britons who support a sponsored family vistor’s visa will also be expected to maintain and accommodate their family members during the visit.

Under the Government’s proposals they will also be expected to fund nonemergency medical care. All visitors will be made to take out medical insurance.

Mr Byrne said: “I think a fine of £1,000 or more will encourage sponsors to take their responsibilities seriously. We need to consult with a number of organisations about how best this can be put into effect.”

The plan also proposed raising the minimum age for a marriage visa from 18 to 21, in an attempt to bar forced marriages.

The proposal will affect everyone seeking to come into Britain for the purpose of marriage from outside the European Economic Area. It will largely affect people from the Indian subcontinent and will mean 3,000 fewer people from that area coming to Britain each year. Spouses or fiancées from outside the European Economic Area may have to pass an English test.

People who use false documents to apply for a visa may have any subsequent application rejected automatically.

The Home Office is considering reducing the length of a visitor’s visa from six to three months after research showed that only 2 per cent of people with the visa intended to stay longer than three months.

The Home Office is also planning a special time-limited cut-price visa for the Olympics and specialised visas for big international events, visiting arts companies and sports teams.

A US-style visa-waiver programme will be set up over the next year, with all countries outside the EU being assessed as to whether their citizens should require a visa to visit Britain.

Currently, 108 countries require visas, and Mr Byrne declined to predict whether the number would rise or fall once the review had been completed.

The migration impact forum will be set up alongside another new committee, the migration advisory committee which will examine skills shortage. The new forum reflects concern about recent levels of immigration and the strain being placed on housing, schools and health services.

Mr Byrne said: “What I want to do is make sure that when ministers decide how high the hurdle should be set, they have got a clear understanding of where in the British economy migration is needed and where it isn’t.”

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