A firm called ‘KGB Cleaners’ employing illegal workers in the House of Commons. You couldn’t make it up!

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Illegal immigrants have been discovered working as cleaners at the House of Commons – an embarrassing security breach at the supposedly tightly guarded building, the Daily Mail reports.

All staff at the Palace of Westminster are required to undergo stringent background checks by police and the security services before being issued passes to the heart of Britain’s Government.

But this did not stop around ten  illegal immigrants getting jobs with KGB Cleaners, the outsourcing firm with the contract to clean lavatories, sweep corridors and polish floors in the Palace of Westminster.

The breach is all the more astounding as the cleaners would have enjoyed unchecked access to the offices of MPs and senior Government Ministers, including Prime Minister David Cameron.

Last week the Home Office refused to say how many illegal immigrants had been discovered working at the Palace and for how long.

The group was rounded up after inquiries by the UK Borders Agency, and officials refused to give more details citing ‘on-going inquiries’.

But the Metropolitan Police were called in to arrest at least one of the immigrants, a 44-year-old Nigerian man, who was held at work at the Palace of Westminster on August 12 before being handed over to immigration officials.

It is understood he is now being held in a secure immigration holding centre awaiting removal from the UK.

The other individuals are understood to have been detained by UK Borders staff elsewhere and are also believed to have told they will be removed from Britain.

Last night a spokeswoman for the Palace of Westminster confirmed a number of people working as cleaners had been detained for immigration offences.

She said the group of ‘less than ten’ individuals had all been vetted when they first began working at the Houses of Parliament and had all been cleared by security officials.

However, she said, it was believed the immigration status of the individuals had changed and that they had failed to notify their employers or the Palace authorities.

She said it is thought several of the individuals were asylum seekers who had exhausted all avenues of appeal and had been told to leave Britain.

Others, she said, were understood to be over-stayers whose work visas or leave to remain in Britain had expired.

The latest blunder comes after a series of similarly embarrassing security breaches during the Labour Government’s years in office including the discovery that illegal immigrants were employed as cleaners in the Home Office department responsible for kicking them out of the country.

The five Nigerians were caught as they turned up for work at the Immigration and Nationality Directorate office in London. It is also not the first time KGB Cleaners, which employs 120 staff at the Commons, has been at the centre of controversy.

Last year cleaners at the House of Commons threatened strike action after being denied a 45p pay rise.

KGB took over cleaning services at the House of Commons in September 2008, giving existing staff a 60p rise to £7 an hour in line with the London Living Wage – a minimum pay level calculated to reflect the capital’s cost of living.

When the London Living Wage rose to £7.45 the company at first refused to raise wages accordingly.

The firm – named after the initials of its founders Kevan and Gina Brown – was set up in 1994 to, according to its website, ‘create an innovative environment where the expectations of both clientele and staff will be consistently met’.

The company has an annual turnover of £26 million.

Employers discovered using illegal immigrants are normally issued with a notification of potential liability and face a fine of up to £10,000 for each illegal worker.

Bosses also have a duty to check that employees are entitled to work in the United Kingdom. Source: Daily Mail.

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If you need any immigration advice or help with Sponsorship or Work Permits, Visa, ILR/Settlement, Citizenship or an appeal against a refusal please email: 

info@immigrationmatters.co.uk or visit www.immigrationmatters.co.uk

For more information on how you can migrate to Canada - CLICK HERE

John Leonard Monterona, Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator, cited a report posted on the Saudi Gazette website last Wednesday September 1.

The news item said the incident transpired Tuesday on Sultana Street in Madina, Saudi Arabia.

Witnesses said the umbrella used by the domestic worker “failed to open at the right moment and the maid came crashing down on the pavement to die instantly.”

Eyewitnesses added that the domestic worker first tossed out a bag containing her clothes and jumped with the umbrella in her hand.

Her employer, the news report said, who is known only by his initials M.O., said the building’s guard told him about the incident and said he found the umbrella hanging on the balcony. A knife used by the maid to open the tightly closed window was also found, he said.

At the request of the maid’s family, the employer said, she was buried at Baqe’e Al-Gargad in the Prophet’s City.

“Concerned fellow OFWs have called me last week and informed us about the death of a domestic worker who reportedly jumped to her death from the window of her employer’s flat on a higher floor of a building,” Monterona said.

However, Monterona pointed out the informants failed to identify the nationality and name of the victim upon his further query.

“Until we have read the news report from a local news website which we suspect is about the unconfirmed reports of what we have been receiving as the circumstances of her death are the same as what have been told to me last week by concerned fellow OFWs,” Monterona said.

“It is of particular interest and concern to us because of the unclear circumstances leading to the migrant worker’s death, aside from the need to establish the victim’s identity; what forced the worker to jump out of the building that led to her unfortunate death must be investigated and primarily established,” he said.

Monterona said Migrante-ME welfare case officers have handled cases of the same nature in the past involving abused and maltreated OFWs jumping from the building in their vain attempt to escape from abusive employers only to discover later from relative’s complaining that there was foul play involved. Source: Roy C. Mabasa, MB.com.ph

If you need any immigration advice or help with Sponsorship or Work Permits, Visa, ILR/Settlement, Citizenship or an appeal against a refusal please email: 

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Patel, 60, is today one of the richest men in Britain and ranks 141st in the Sunday Times Rich List. He was awarded an honorary degree by the De Montfort University, Leicester.

Now a pharmaceuticals tycoon, Patel studied pharmacy at University and graduated in 1973. He heads the globally successful company, Waymade Healthcare.

He and his older brother Bhiku head the company. They started with a single chemist’s shop in Essex, and now own a global company, marketing and distributing drugs to 110 countries.

Patel, who was awarded an honorary degree in business administration, said, “I had a dream to start my business when I was just 10 years old but I never dared to tell anyone. I never imagined this would happen, though, and I am so deeply humbled to be honoured by the university in this way.”

Patel grew up in difficult circumstances in Kenya. His father died when he was five, leaving his mother to bring up her children in an impoverished country.

He said, “My mother taught me a very important lesson – get the best education you possibly can. But I had no way of funding myself through it, so I picked myself up and headed to the UK with little more to my name than a bag full of ambition.”

Senior lecturer in business at De Montfort, Dr Robert Webber, said, “This is in honour of Dr Patel’s many achievements in business, nationally and internationally. It is a great pleasure to be honouring him in this way.” Source: Chai Samosa.

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Weekly Immigration News Round up 29 August 2010

If you need any immigration advice or help with Sponsorship or Work Permits, Visa, ILR/Settlement, Citizenship or an appeal against a refusal please email: 

info@immigrationmatters.co.uk or visit www.immigrationmatters.co.uk

Carole Spencer, 55, also allowed staff at Bessingby Hall Residential Nursing Home in Bridlington to doze off, the Nursing and Midwifery Council heard.

A care assistant photographed her sleeping and recorded her snoring.

The council said Spencer regularly slept on duty and this could have had “serious consequences” for patients.
Winsome Levy, chairman of the council’s conduct and competence committee panel, said: “She was in charge of night shifts in a care home, with up to 51 elderly, vulnerable patients.

“Some of them were terminally ill, two were unconscious, and they all needed constant care.”

Spencer, who had worked at the home since October 2006, would “usually” get her head down in the early hours and would often be joined by other nurses and care assistants.

On one occasion, the night of 18 January 2008, every member of staff took a nap at the same time.

After being reported to managers, Spencer complained that she was being “singled out” and claimed “they all do it”.

In a letter to the council, Spencer said she had “no cares” about the case and denounced the accusations as “lies”.

“She has consistently denied the allegations, and has shown no insight, regret or remorse,” said the panel chairman.

“She continues to seek to blame others.

“Her misconduct put her patients at risk and would undermine public confidence in the profession.”

Spencer could return to work only if she “changed her attitude, showed insight, and remedied her practice”, she added.

Spencer, from Bridlington, was found guilty of misconduct by sleeping on duty between September 2007 and February 2008, and by allowing staff to sleep between 4 October 2006 and 20 February 2008.

She did not attend the hearing in London. Source: Guide2Care.co.uk

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Weekly Immigration News Round up 29 August 2010

If you need any immigration advice or help with Sponsorship or Work Permits, Visa, ILR/Settlement, Citizenship or an appeal against a refusal please email: 

info@immigrationmatters.co.uk or visit www.immigrationmatters.co.uk

For more information on how you can migrate to Canada - CLICK HERE

The new coalition government has pledged to cut net immigration from the 150,000-plus each year addition to the UK population back at least to below 100,000.

Cameron has already capped Tier 2 working visas for non-European Union migrants, at 24,100 between June and next April – 1,300 fewer than last year.

However, researchers have taken issue with a net target, arguing that it makes little sense to aim for a figure that is largely out of the government’s control. Immigration rose 33,000 last year to 196,000 but most of the net increase came from fewer Brits emigrating – probably because the weak pound made overseas living less appealing, while the recession slashed jobs abroad.

The net number of Brits moving abroad dropped to 36,000 in the year to December 2009, from 90,000 in the year to December 2008.

A8 EU net migration down to 5000

Meanwhile, a number of other indicators seemed to be pointing against net immigration.

UK Tier 2 work visas fell sharply, as did national insurance registrations that foreigners must complete to work here.

More significantly net immigration from the eight eastern European nations that have had free movement of labour rights in Britain since 2004 was just 5,000 last year, compared to 80,000 at its peak. The figures confirm other indicators that Eastern European migrants are returning home in large numbers.

Sarah Mulley from the Institute for Public Policy Research said: “This demonstrates the difficult task that the government has set itself in seeking to significantly reduce total net immigration – a measure over which it has only limited control.

“The impact of changes in British migration [over which the government has no control at all] on total net migration demonstrates this very clearly.”

Several aspects of the increase in immigration will provide ammunition for those seeking lower inflows.

Immigration by non-UK citizens was swollen by a 35 per cent surge in student visas in the year to June 2010; there was also a 37 per cent jump in grants for migrants to settle indefinitely in the same period.

Damian Green, immigration minister, said the surge in student numbers was a worrying sign that people might be coming to the UK under false pretences. “It’s important to look carefully at those courses to see that they are genuinely valuable and are not just being used as an excuse to evade immigration controls,” he said.

The government is also looking at reforming the student visa system and how it can deal with the surge in applications to settle permanently in the UK.

New student visas rose to more than 360,000 in the year to June, from about 270,000 the previous year. However, in 2008-9, 144,770 non-EU students started courses at UK universities. The remaining non-EU student visas must have been allocated to pupils at other institutions – such as language colleges and independent schools.

But the rise in student numbers probably reflected both the weak pound making British education cheaper and universities seeking funding from high-paying foreign students.

The university sector is concerned by the prospect of tighter controls. Universities UK, the institutions’ umbrella group, estimates that non-EU students contribute £2.2bn in tuition fees – 8 per cent of their total income. Their higher fees cross-subsidise UK and EU students.

Meanwhile, a rise in grants of settlement – which provide indefinite leave for immigrants to remain – is thought to be in part a reflection of faster processing of applications by the Home Office, as well as the fact that many eastern European people and families who have moved to the UK since 2004 are becoming eligible to stay permanently. Source: FT.

The UK needs to attract the best skilled migrants and international students in order to remain competitive and economically vibrant, as Canada, Australia and the US are also competing for highly skilled and skilled talent.

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If you need any immigration advice or help with Sponsorship or Work Permits, Visa, ILR/Settlement, Citizenship or an appeal against a refusal please email: 

info@immigrationmatters.co.uk or visit www.immigrationmatters.co.uk

For more information on how you can migrate to Canada - CLICK HERE

Complex new background designs on pages unveiled yesterday show Ben Nevis, the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland, Wales’s Gower Peninsula – and the white cliffs of Dover.

Mixed in are references to the British weather – with symbols for clouds, lightning… and rain. Typically, sunshine appears on just four of the 28 pages.

The revamp to thwart passport fraud will see the hi-tech chip moved to the inside cover where it is harder to tamper with. There will also be two photos of the passport holder.

A ten-year one will still cost £77.50. Passports boss Sarah Rapson said the aim is to “stay ahead of criminals.” Source: The Sun

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If you need any immigration advice or help with Sponsorship or Work Permits, Visa, ILR/Settlement, Citizenship or an appeal against a refusal please email: 

info@immigrationmatters.co.uk or visit www.immigrationmatters.co.uk

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Office for National Statistics figures show 4% fewer people arrived in the UK last year – 567,000 compared with 590,000 in 2008 – but the number who left fell further, by 13% to 371,000.

Home Office data shows a 37% rise in people granted settlement in the UK between June 2009 and June 2010.

The number of visas issued to students also went up by 35% to 362,015.

Left-leaning think tank the Institute for Public Policy Research said the fall in long-term emigration to 371,000 last year, from 427,000 in 2008, was largely due to fewer British people moving overseas.

Among those classed as immigrants to the UK in 2009, many were actually Britons returning from overseas, and a cap on skilled migration could harm business it added.

Student visas rise

The BBC’s Andy Tighe said the increase in student visas revealed by the Home Office’s annual bulletin was significant, and there was some concern within the government about how easy it appeared to be for people to move to the UK with their families on study-related permits.

The figures also showed a significant fall in the number of work-related visas issued, in part due to the recession and also because of the tougher points-based system rules for those wishing to come to the UK from outside Europe.

Immigration minister Damian Green said the figures were proof that the coalition government had inherited an immigration system that was “largely out of control”.

“What these figures tell me is that we also need to look at all the other routes [aside from employment] by which people come into this country, maybe for education, for family reunion reasons and also, in particular, routes that lead to permanent settlement.”

On the issue of those given permission to come here to study, Mr Green said: “It’s important to look carefully at those courses to see that they are genuinely valuable and are not just being used as an excuse to evade immigration controls.”

Shadow Home Secretary Alan Johnson said the increase in people entering the country through an academic route showed the previous Labour government was correct to tighten the rules.

“The government’s recently announced ‘cap’ will affect less than a third of 1% of those coming to our shores,” he said.

“The points-based system works and the government is foolish to pretend they can improve its effectiveness with an arbitrary cap.”

But the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development said the sharp fall in the number of work-related visas showed the points-based system was “robust and working”.

A further cap on net immigration – planned by the government – would leave many employers with a significant skills gap, it added.

Asylum figures

Also released on Thursday were the latest available figures for 2010 detailing population movements in the second quarter of the year.

In this period, the number of applications to the UK for asylum, excluding dependants, was 29% down on the same quarter in 2009. Two-thirds of this fall was due to a drop in applications from Zimbabwe, from 1,560 to 405.

In 2009 as a whole, asylum applications, excluding dependants, dropped 6% from 2008 levels.

In the second quarter of this year, the Home Office said 14,130 people were removed from the UK or left voluntarily, 14% fewer than the same quarter in 2009 when the figure was 16,345.

Refugee Council chief executive Donna Covey highlighted other statistics that caused her concern. She said: “These figures show that almost a third of appeals are still being allowed, proving a significant proportion of initial asylum claims are being wrongly refused.

“The detention figures are also cause for alarm – up to 40% of people detained were later released back into their community, showing that detaining them was unnecessary in the first place.”

Other details from the statistics included:

• Of those granted settlement in the UK in 2009, 68% were dependants of those already living in the country
• Migrants from the Indian sub-continent made up to largest proportion of settlement grants, 34%. Of the remainder 25% were from Africa and 21% from elsewhere in Asia
• The total number of approved applications from EU citizens to come and work in the UK fell 22% to 118,675 from 151,870 in 2008
• The number of Polish migrants approved to work in the UK in 2009 fell 38% to 62,095, from 100,500 in 2008
• But the number from Latvia and Lithuania increased considerably – the former from 6,005 to 16,020, and the latter from 10,550 to 15,815
• Nearly a quarter of all births, 24.6%, in 2009 were to mothers born outside the UK
• In the London borough of Newham, which has the highest number of births to foreign-born mothers in the country, the figure was 75.7%

Source: BBC

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If you need any immigration advice or help with Sponsorship or Work Permits, Visa or an appeal against a refusal please email: 

info@immigrationmatters.co.uk or visit www.immigrationmatters.co.uk

If you are applying for naturalisation as a British citizen or for indefinite leave to remain (ILR), you need to show that you know about life in the UK.

If you live in the UK, you can do this in two ways: by taking the Life in the UK Test or by taking combined English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and citizenship classes.

Who needs take the test?

The test is compulsory if you are applying for naturalisation as a British citizen or ILR (settlement) and your level of English is ESOL Entry 3 or above (or, in Scotland, Intermediate Level 1 or above). If your level of English is lower than ESOL Entry 3 (or lower than Intermediate Level 1 in Scotland) and you wish to apply for naturalisation or indefinite leave to remain, you will need to attend combined English language (ESOL) and citizenship classes instead. Local further education and ESOL accredited colleges run these courses.

What are ESOL and citizenship classes?

ESOL and citizenship classes help you to improve your English and learn more about life in the UK. The course includes “language with civic content”, which is a step by step resource book for migrants. To find out more about ESOL and citizenship classes, contact your local college, or call the Life in the UK Test Helpline on 0800 0154245. 

Taking the Life in the UK test

You can take your test at around 75 test centres all over the country where and you can find your nearest centres in the ‘Find a test centre’ section of the UK Border Agency Website. You can take the 24 question test as many times as necessary to reach the pass mark of 75%.

To book, simply contact a test centre during opening hours by telephone or in person. You will be offered a place in one of their test sessions within 1 to 4 weeks of your request. There is a minimum waiting period of 7 days between making your booking and being able to take the test.

You must take the test before you apply for naturalisation as a British citizen or indefinite leave to remain, provided you meet all the other requirements. 

See also:

Life in the UK Test – Journey to British Citizenship

If you need any immigration advice or help with Sponsorship or Work Permits, Visa, ILR/Settlement, Citizenship or an appeal against a refusal please email: 

info@immigrationmatters.co.uk or visit www.immigrationmatters.co.uk

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