Brazen Facebook fixers selling UK visas to illegal migrants for as little as £12,000
SOURCE:Daily Mail
Brazen Facebook fixers are selling UK visas to illegal migrants for as little as £12,000, an undercover Mail investigation has found.
Brazen Facebook fixers are selling UK visas to illegal migrants for as little as £12,000, an undercover Mail investigation has found.
The bogus consultants who advertise on social media boast of using sham jobs, forged certificates and contrived payroll records to help dupe the authorities into accepting the applications.
Their frauds enable migrants to illegally use legitimate routes to get to the UK and stay here, fuelling a scandal that genuine recruiters have warned dwarfs the small boats crisis.
Visas being peddled include for positions in care homes, warehouses and fast food restaurants - although in many cases the migrant does not have to do the job on arrival.
Our investigation follows a damming Commons' report that found 'widespread' abuse of skilled worker visas and warned the Home Office had no idea how many of the 1.2million migrants who have already come to the UK this way have stayed to work illegally after their permits expired.
And it suggests rogue operators have already found ways around a crackdown on the system announced by Sir Keir Starmer last year.
The Home Office launched an investigation into the illegal activity exposed by the Mail and warned any wrongdoers would face the 'full force of the law.'
Komal Shinde told a reporter posing as an Indian student hoping to stay in the UK when his study visa expired that she could arrange him a skilled worker visa for both real and non-existent positions – for a price
Ms Shinde, who frequently posts videos of herself dancing on social media, used Facebook Marketplace to advertise her Krishiv Consultancy Ltd which offers 'All UK immigration services at lower cost' with a 'high success approval rate' - despite her not being registered with any legal authority
Roop Masih (right), who uses the name Gill Love, and his business partner Zack (left) runs a cash for visas operation which is thinly disguised as an investment scheme, offering a 'free' skilled worker visa to anyone who 'invests' £25,000 in his high-street fast food outlets
Our investigation also found:
One uses a Union Jack images to advertise a cash for visas operation disguised as a 'business investment' offering a skilled worker permit for £25,000, comparing it to a supermarket 'buy one get one free' offer.
To trick the Home Office into believing they are genuine workers, the fixers pay a salary into their bank but then order them to immediately return it to them in cash.
They also offer coaching for Home Office interviews and to provide solicitors to help applications who were 'old hands' and knew what to do.
The visa blackmarket poses major concerns for the safety of the elderly and vulnerable, with one offering visas for nursing auxiliary jobs to a film studies graduate with no experience in the care sector.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: 'This yet another shocking example of Labour's total loss of border control.
'These shameless and brazen criminals are making a mockery of our immigration system and illegal immigrants are being allowed to flood into the country through the government's own systems.
'Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood needs to urgently end the immigration chaos she is presiding over.'
Legal Q&A
How do UK companies hire overseas workers?
To hire skilled workers, employers usually need a sponsor licence from the Home Office. This allows the firm to issue certificates of sponsorship for eligible overseas employees, which cost £525 per worker, to be paid to the Home Office. Employees use the certificates to obtain a UK skilled worker visa.
Can firms or UK recruiters charge workers for sponsorship or jobs?
No. It is illegal for employers or intermediaries to charge for jobs or the promise of securing employment. Businesses are responsible for paying the sponsor licence fee and any associated administrative costs.
Can firms or recruiters offer skilled worker visas in return for an investment or for positions that don't actually exist?
No. Home Office rules say skilled worker visas can only be granted for genuine jobs and to migrants who meet the skill level and are paid at least the minimum required salary for the role. Employment offers must not be a 'sham' or 'created mainly so the applicant can apply for permission.'
What are Global Talent Visas?
Visas only for those showing exceptional talent or promise in fields such as science, education, academia, digital technology or the arts. Applications often require at least six documents showing the migrant is recognised as a leading talent and has the necessary skills, plus three letters of recommendation from established experts.
It is illegal for an unregulated adviser to provide immigration guidance or services in the UK.
Employers or intermediaries cannot charge for jobs and the Home Office say skilled worker visas can only be granted for genuine jobs where the applicant meets the skill level with and receives at least the required minimum salary for the role.
But on Facebook Marketplace, the Mail found a string of unregistered advisers hawking an array of illicit visa packages for migrants.
One woman, who is herself in the UK on a student visa, advertised her consultancy that provides: 'All UK immigration services at lower cost' with 'High success approval rate'
In a meeting with undercover reporters – one posing an Indian student hoping to stay in the UK when his study visa expired – she offered to arrange him skilled worker visas for several jobs around the UK, including in restaurants, the care sector and warehouses, for a charge of between £12,000 and £19,000. She said she took a £1,000 fee.
In many cases the migrant buying the visa would not actually need to do the job and instead would agree to a fake pay payroll where he received a salary from the sponsor then paid it back to them in cash.
She also offered to help the reporter get fake documents so he could apply for a Global Talent visa, which are meant to be for those showing exceptional talent or promise in fields such as science, education, academia, digital technology or the arts.
Another businessman advertises on Facebook Marketplace with a post emblazoned with a Union Jack offering a 'free' skilled worker visa to anyone who 'invests' £25,000 in his high-street fast-food outlets.
In a subsequent meeting he likened the scam to buy one get one free 'Costco and Tesco' supermarket deals.
He said working was not required and also outlined a similar fake payroll scheme to dupe the Home Office into believing they were genuine staff.
Between their launch in December 2020 and the end of 2024, 1.18 million people applied to come to the UK on skilled worker visas, which were introduced to attract foreign labour to plug workface gaps after Brexit. This included 630,000 dependents of the main visa applicant.
At a meeting with undercover reporters Masih likened his 'free' visa offer operation it to 'Costco and Tesco' supermarket deals explaining: 'You can understand it like this, that you are investing in our company, first you buy something, and then you get something else for free'
Masih advertised his scheme on Facebook Marketplace
Ms Shinde said her previous '7 to 8' clients' applications were 'all successful' and that they would prepare customers if the Home Office requested an interview before granting the visa
But a damning Commons report published last summer concluded: 'The Home Office has not analysed exit checks since the route was introduced and does not know what proportion of people return to their home country after their visa has expired, and how many may be working illegally in the United Kingdom.'
There was also 'widespread evidence of workers suffering debt bondage, working excessive hours and exploitative conditions', the report by the cross-party Public Accounts Committee found.
A Home Office spokesman said: 'The Government will do whatever it takes to secure our borders and cut the levels of migration.
'We are investigating this illegal activity and it will not be tolerated.
'We will stop at nothing to ensure our immigration rules are respected and enforced and if anyone is found flouting the rules they can expect the full force of the law to be used.'
A spokeswoman for Meta, which owns Facebook, said: 'We don't allow fraudulent activity on our platforms and have removed the content brought our attention and taken action on the accounts for violating our policies.
'We work closely with law enforcement and invest in detection tools to tackle scams and fraud, including across Marketplace.'
CASE STUDY 1 : Komal Shinde
Her social media is filled with footage of her cheerfully performing Bollywood style dance routines with friends and family.
And when not relaxing, Komal Shinde also leads the Home Office on a merry dance.
On Facebook Marketplace she advertises her Krishiv Consultancy Ltd which offers 'All UK immigration services at lower cost' with a 'high success approval rate' - despite her not being registered with any legal authority.
In a subsequent meeting she told a reporter posing as an Indian student hoping to stay in the UK when his study visa expired that she could arrange him a skilled worker visa for both real and non-existent positions – for a price.
'Without job it will cost you £12,000, £13,000 or £14,000,' she said. 'If you go with job then it will cost £17,000, £18,000 or £19,000…
'Just decide whether you want to go with a job or without.'
Ms Shinde, who said she is herself in the UK on a student visa, supplied details of the companies she was working with but warned the reporter that discretion was vital as there could be problems if something 'leaked'.
She said she took a £1,000 cut for the service, with the rest of the illegal job fee going to the sponsoring employer.
Ms Shinde also offered to arrange a Global Talent visa, which are meant to be for those showing exceptional talent or promise in fields such as science, education, academia, digital technology or the arts
To make the 'without job' worker visas appear legitimate to the Home Office, the employer would transfer cash to his account every month but the reporter would have to immediately return it to them in cash in a fake payroll 'cycle'.
Jobs offered included managing a restaurant in Wembley, North London, close to where the meeting took place. She offered to arrange a meeting with the manager.
A 'non-working' skilled worker visa for a management role in a warehouse would cost £8000 to £9000 upfront, with the rest to be paid in instalments 'that won't burden you,' she said. Other visas costing £17,000 were for care providers in London, Manchester, Glasgow and Bournemouth.
The Prime Minister announced a crackdown to remove 'care workers and home carers' from the list of jobs eligible for skilled worker visas in the summer, following years of abuse of this route.
But in a sign rogue operators have already found a loophole around this, the skilled worker visa role Ms Shinde offered for care work to the film studies graduate was for 'nursing auxiliaries and assistants' which are still permitted in settings where registered nurse roles also exist.
She said after the payment and the application was submitted there would be a 'three- to four-day compliance check' after which he would 'definitely' get the visa.
She also offered to arrange a Global Talent visa, which are meant to be for those showing exceptional talent or promise in fields such as science, education, academia, digital technology or the arts.
Contacted by the Mail for comment, Ms Shinde said she could not recall the meeting and denied selling visas or taking any cut from sales, saying: 'I'm not fixing anything. I'm just giving the contact to the person who's selling. That's it'
This was more expensive, up to £30,000, because holders can get indefinite leave to remain in three years, far faster than skilled workers who will have to wait a decade under new laws being introduced.
She explained she works with companies who will 'make' all the required documents to submit so that it appeared he was eligible for the visa.
'You have a unique skill… they create certificates for all your talents, and they create experience letters for you — all of it is genuine.'
She added: 'These people get all the certifications, and everything done, so it is a long process.'
Ms Shinde said her previous '7 to 8' clients' applications were 'all successful.'
'In some cases an interview comes, there is a Home Office interview. So, we will prepare you accordingly.
'Most probably we will try that you don't have to give the interview.'
Contacted by the Mail, Ms Shinde said she could not recall the meeting and denied selling visas or taking any cut from sales, saying: 'I'm not fixing anything. I'm just giving the contact to the person who's selling. That's it.'
CASE STUDY 2: Roop Masih
Roop Masih advertises on Facebook Marketplace with a post emblazoned with a Union Jack offering a 'free' skilled worker visa to anyone who 'invests' £25,000 in his high-street fast food outlets.
At a meeting with undercover reporters the businessman, who uses the name Gill Love, outlined his cash for visas operation which is thinly disguised as an investment scheme.
Likening it to 'Costco and Tesco' supermarket deals, he explained: 'You can understand it like this, that you are investing in our company, first you buy something, and then you get something else for free.'
Sitting beside his business partner Zack, he explained no work was required as part of the deal.
'It is his choice, wherever he wants to work. But it is not necessary.'
Masih said the reporter could even work for someone else, as long as he was sure to 'Keep it quiet.'
Zack added: 'You are legally working for this company. You don't expose yourself anywhere.'
If the migrant didn't work he would have to send the fixer cash which would be returned back to him in monthly instalments to keep the process looking legal.
Mr Masih did not respond to repeated requests for comment but his business partner Zack denied any wrongdoing, telling the Mail: 'We don't charge anybody. We just open businesses for them and then from their businesses they do self-sponsorship. We teach them how to get self-sponsorship'
Zack explained: 'If he works, he gets a salary, if he doesn't work, then obviously he transfers the money and we transfer it back…. Payslip will come to him.'
The salary would depend on Home Office requirements for the specific skilled worker visa, Zack said.
'If they say, on this job twenty thousand, then it is twenty thousand per annum.
'If they say, fifty thousand, you have to pay fifty thousand.'
Masih, who arrived in the UK in 2012, told the reporters he had been doing these schemes for 12 years, adding: 'I haven't had to get a job ever since.'
He offers visas for 'investment' in his ice cream parlours, pizza and burger restaurants in London and Derby and boasted of having 'countless' workers with 12 partners in his businesses.
He showed our reporter a Certificate of Sponsorship for two workers he had brought into the UK the previous month.
Masih said: 'The government has provided us the whole system for this.'
Zack said within a fortnight of the cash being paid, 'we can give him a COS [Certificate of Sponsorship]' which was 'permission from the government you can work here in the UK.' The migrant could use this to apply for the work visa.
Masih said they could provide them with a solicitor to help him with the final application, explaining he was an 'old hand' who would know what to do.
Zack warned if he was invited for a Home Office interview: 'Whatever is the truth, you tell them confidently, and you are clear. There's no issue.
'But as soon as you have a worried brow, or start sweating, they read that immediately. Then, in that situation, we cannot give any guarantee.
'People go there and become unsure, suddenly become anxious. So, then they say, 'come to this side'.'
If they followed the advice, the men said it would be '100 per cent successful'
'There's no question, unless you do a fuck up,' Zack said.
Approached for comment later, Zack denied any wrongdoing, telling the Mail: 'We don't charge anybody. We just open businesses for them and then from their businesses they do self-sponsorship. We teach them how to get self-sponsorship.'
Mr Masih did not respond to repeated requests for comment.