500 people arrested over UK visa scams

The Home Office has revealed that 500 people have been taken into custody for using fake documents in their visa applications to a secure UK visa.

UK Border Agency staff intercepted the visitors before boarding planes for the UK at the point of producing the false paperwork to obtain visas. The numbers of arrests represent only a small proportion of the total number stopped by UK customs officials. On average since 2003, over 50,000 people a year have been stopped from entering the UK before boarding their planes.

Vernon Coaker, the Police Minister, said that as many as one in five visa applications to enter the United Kingdom were refused this year. He said, "Stopping these fraudulent attempts to enter Britain is a crucial part of our fight to protect our borders from those intent on abusing the system.” Fingerprinting applicants is one of the new measures being introduced that will help the Border Agency keep unscrupulous applicants out of the country in the future, as all fingerprints remain on the Agency’s database. Typical examples of faked documents used to support UK visa applications include falsified tax returns and forged wedding certificates.