Fake immigration lawyers offering rogue ‘advice' to migrants on
how to lodge fraudulent asylum claims will be weeded out through
tough new powers in the government's milestone Border Security,
Asylum, and Immigration Bill.
Currently, giving immigration advice without proper registration
with the Immigration Advice Authority (IAA), or recognised legal
regulatory body, is a criminal offence which can lead to jail
time, but the IAA will be given new
powers to also hit these fraudulent firms and individuals posing
as immigration advisers with fines of up to £15,000.
Growing evidence has shown how these fake lawyers are acting as
middlemen for those trying to abuse the immigration system in a
bid to stay in the UK, or trying to cash in on people's
desperation, providing poor quality or outright fraudulent
immigration advice.
The new laws will also close a loophole that allows someone
currently banned from giving immigration advice to continue
giving advice under “supervision” – ensuring people banned from
providing immigration advice cannot set up shop elsewhere.
The crackdown on fake immigration advisers is part of this
government's action to create an asylum system where the rules
are respected and strictly enforced. It builds on a surge in
illegal working enforcement activity and targets those exploiting
vulnerable migrants who undermine the security of our immigration
system.
These changes will be tabled as amendments to the Border
Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, which will tackle
criminality across the spectrum by empowering law enforcement
with counter-terror style powers to go after vile people
smuggling gangs who continue to put lives at risk for cash.
Minister for Border Security, Dame , said:
Shameless individuals offering immigration advice completely
illegally must be held to account.
That is why we are introducing these tough financial penalties
for rogue firms and advisers, better protecting the integrity of
our immigration system as well as vulnerable people in genuine
need of advice, as we restore order to our asylum system through
the Plan for Change.
This will build on the vital work of the Immigration Advice
Authority in regulating the immigration advice sector.
These fake lawyers and advisers are finding new ways to target
victims. The IAA has found cases
where individuals are using social media to trick people. For
example, a case in October 2024 saw Sukhwinder Singh Kang
sentenced at Southwark Crown Court after posing as a registered
Level 3 immigration adviser with fake qualifications.
Kang targeted people using Facebook support groups for migration
advice, despite having little to no immigration knowledge. He
claimed he could sort visa applications with his ‘special access'
to the Home Office, scamming his victims out of thousands of
pounds in advance fees and taking personal identity documents.
Kang even went so far as to set up weekly payments, make up
fictional staff that were supposedly handling these applications
and give out a fake professional premises address.
When each of the victims realised that their applications were
going nowhere, Kang gave a range of excuses from family
emergencies to delivery issues and offered full refunds that
never arrived.
The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill will give
the IAA brand new powers
to hold their registered advisers and organisations to
account.
Similar to legal regulators, the watchdog will be able to
immediately suspend advisers suspected of carrying out the most
flagrant abuse of the immigration system or harming vulnerable
people seeking advice. These faster and earlier interventions aim
to stop rogue advisers in their tracks.
The IAA will also be able
to compel former advisers to take part in complaint
investigations about their past conduct if they are no longer
registered. This move will prevent rogue operators from
attempting to avoid investigation through simply leaving their
role.
These powers will bolster work already taking place by the Home
Office's expert Professional Enabler Disruptions team (PED) which
helps root out this sort of criminality. For example, in November
2024, the team uncovered a London-based rogue lawyer was directly
submitting hundreds of immigration applications with zero
knowledge of the law firm that was meant to be ‘supervising'
them. These applications were bound to fail, wasting caseworkers'
time, and impacting people's legitimate applications. Thanks to
PED's work, legal regulatory bodies have now launched an
investigation.
