UK Visa Fraud: 11 Indians caught in Turkey
Cited as a major UK visa fraud in recent times, the Times of India reports a case of up to 11 Indian nationals using fake UK visas. The Indian nationals were caught in Turkey using forged visas held by the police in a single day last week.
Caught trying to seek illegal entry in to the United Kingdom, these Indians come from various backgrounds and were held in Turkey before their illegal entry. These Indians came from two families in India, one from Delhi while other was from Punjab.
The police are staggered with the extent of the operation planned as well as the route these accused had planned to take on. Apparently, these families had travelled approx thousand miles for seeking entry in to the UK.
In furtherance, the police officials added that these two families comprised of half a dozen individuals hailing from Delhi and Punjab. On June 14, these families reached Moscow from the IGI Airport, Delhi. At Moscow, these individuals met their agents for collection of their fake visas and started off their journey to Turkey.
Deported from Turkey via Moscow, the accused 11 Indian Nationals have were brought to India while their passports were sent to the British High Commission through Foreign Regional Registration Office at Delhi.
The police has registered a cheating & forgery case against the accusers under The Passports Act, section 12. The case was registered at the IGIA police station itself.
In further clarification on the case, one of the officials said, “The British high commission’s verification report confirmed that the suspect UK visas stamped on page number eight in the passports were stolen and a counterfeit print had been added on them.” He further added, “The passengers have committed an offence by using the fake UK visa.”, citing that they shall be sentenced a punishment for the offence soon.
This case demonstrates the increasingly tough line taken towards visa fraud in the UK. Unusually an FIR has been lodged in India, when in most cases the offence is normally prosecuted in the country in which the offence has allegedly taken place. Committing Visa fraud in the UK usually results in a sentence of imprisonment under UK immigration and criminal law. It also results in black listing of future genuine applications to the UK. Lex Meridian’s specialist UK immigration lawyer services are based in Delhi and London and offers honest, expert, genuine advice and assistance on all aspects of UK immigration law and visa applications. We always strongly advise our clients to use genuine and legitimate routes when applying for UK visas or immigration applications for residency. Our comprehensive service is available for UK student applicants, visitors, spouse applications, business and entrepreneur visas and all other classes of UK visa categories.
