The proposals are aimed at those who deliberately overstay or work illegally in the UK. The government has not revealed how much families would be asked to pay to sponsor an overseas visitor, but press reports suggest it could be a £1,000 bond.

In a report carried by the British Broadcasting Council, it was revealed that in addition to shortening standard tourist visas, the government might also introduce special occasion visas for events such as the London Olympics in 2012.

The British government also announced that over a million fingerprints had now been collected from overseas foreign nationals applying to come to the UK, under a new scheme to "export" Britain's borders. Immigration minister Liam Byrne said: "Tougher checks abroad mean we keep risky people out. By next spring we'll check everyone's fingerprints when they apply for a visa; now we're proposing a financial guarantee as well - not for everyone, but where we think there's a risk. This means that from spring 2008, Britain aims to go global on biometric checks for all visa applicants.

However, the main opposition party (Conservatives) have dismissed the government's proposals as a "headline grabbing gimmick" and repeated their call for an annual limit on immigration and some people have seen this as being unfair to the already marginalised ethnic minorities. Immigration groups have also said it would be "unfair" on poorer families.