Vietnamese students who want to study in the UK for more than six months will have to test negative for tuberculosis before they can secure a visa to the European kingdom.

TB testing will become a visa application requirement for Vietnamese from June 30 onward, the overseas study arm under Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training said last week on its website, citing the British Embassy in Hanoi. 

Local visa applicants must be screened for the disease and proved to be free from it prior to any visa issuance.

Those who hold a diplomatic passport or would like to stay in the UK for less than six months are exempt from this procedure.

The UK government has authorized the International Organization for Migration to show locals how and where to test for TB in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Testing costs US$90 per person and health check results will remain valid for six months.

The introduction of the new procedure stems from the fact that 72 percent of TB patients in the UK come from countries outside the European Union, and that the World Health Organization recently reported a rise in the number of TB patients in Vietnam.

Similar formalities have been in place in Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Bangladesh, and others since 2005.

Access http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/ for further information.