Kathmandu, January 13:

On the invitation of the Gurkha Army Ex-servicemen’s Organisation (GAESO), British solicitors — Alexander McPierce and Kate Bowler — arrived today said Mahendra Lal Rai, GAESO secretary.

He said they will begin the work of recording testimony of ex-Gurkha veterans, who want to apply for the Indefinite Leave to Entry (ILE) to the United Kingdom from tomorrow.

He said the remaining team members will arrive soon.

“Two of the solicitors are scheduled to arrive on January 18,” he said, “But we will not wait for them to start our work.”

He said the team will be based in Pokhara and will verify and record testimony of the ex-Gurkha soldiers, who want to apply for the ILE. The team, he said, will stay here initially for three months but may wait more to receive cases to record.

The British government had, on November 24, announced that it will provide British citizenship certificates to ex-Gurkha soldiers and their families. But entry clearance officers can still decide whether or not to issue the ILE to those who got retirement before July 1, 1997.