Couples will have to apply for a ‘licence’ if either the bride or groom is from a non-European country.

Members of the clergy are also being urged to report any suspicions they have that the marriage is not genuine.

Over the past nine months, 155 people have been arrested in the UK as a result of investigations into both church and civil ceremonies.

The new guidance advises clergy not to publish banns – where a couple’s intention to marry is read out in church – for marriages involving a man or a woman from a non-European country.

Instead, it says couples should apply for a “common licence”, which involves the swearing of affidavits and classes.

The guidance issued by the House of Bishops – one of three houses in the General Synod – has UK Border Agency agreement.

It says if a member of the clergy is not satisfied that the marriage is genuine, he or she must make that clear to the person responsible for granting the licence.

Clergy should “immediately” report a couple to diocesan legal officers if they insist on having banns read rather than applying for a common licence under the guidance.

The Church in Wales said its clergy would be receiving training from the UK Border Agency about spotting tell-tale signs, what questions to ask and what documents to request.

A spokeswoman said sham marriages were a “relatively new problem” in Wales, perhaps because there had been a crackdown in other places.

The Church of England said clergy who refuse to conduct a wedding as a result of the guidance would not be considered guilty of misconduct.

Vicars have also been urged to contact the police immediately should they feel they are being threatened or pressured to carry out a marriage.

The Right Reverend John Packer, Bishop of Ripon and Leeds, said: “The House of Bishops is clear that the office of holy matrimony must not be misused by those who have no intention of contracting a genuine marriage.

“The purpose of this guidance and direction from the bishops to the clergy and to those responsible for the grant of common licences is, therefore, to prevent the contracting of sham marriages in the Church of England,” he said.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he said while the exact numbers were not known, “some clergy, in some parishes in cities” were being asked on a “fairly frequently basis” to conduct suspected sham marriages.

The new rules would protect the clergy from being “conned” and those couples who were “genuinely seeking marriage”, he added.

Reverend Tim Codling had to call in the police and immigration officials after his church – St John the Baptist CoE in Tilbury, Essex – was targeted by a Nigerian gang from 2007.

He said it was a “production line”, with the number of weddings tripling from 10 to 30 a year.

“It’s very difficult for a priest sometimes to say no to people when you feel intimidated,” he said. “I felt threatened on many occasions.”

Father Codling told BBC Panorama’s My Big Fat Fake Wedding programme that the sham marriages were the work of crime gangs involved in prostitution, drugs, money laundering and people trafficking.

In some cases, he added, the fake brides were “absolutely frightened”.

Immigration minister Damian Green, who has backed the guidance, said the UK Border Agency already worked “very closely” with the Church to investigate and disrupt suspected sham weddings but the new advice was “another step in the right direction”.

“Increasing enforcement action has resulted in 155 arrests across the country, and would-be fraudsters should remember that a marriage itself does not equal an automatic right to remain in the UK,” he said.

But the new guidance made it necessary for vicars to take action, and removed easily exploitable “loopholes”, he added.

Last September the Reverend Alex Brown, 61, was jailed for four years for his part in a sham marriage fraud which helped hundreds of illegal immigrants stay in Britain.

He abused his position to marry hundreds of African men to Eastern European women at the Church of St Peter and St Paul in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex.

A Church of England spokesman said no more than a “handful” of clergy were currently suspended pending police investigations into alleged sham marriages.

“The vast majority of the 155 arrests mentioned by the immigration minister are of couples and their facilitators,” he said. Source: BBC

The Church of England of course was created largely on the back of English monarch King Henry Vlll’s marriage issues 500 years ago.

See also:

Priests taught how to spot sham marriages by UK Border Agency

BBC’s Panorama investigates ‘big fat sham wedding’

Latvian sham bride found in bed with real boyfriend

Bulgarian couple arrested in France for people smuggling

If you need any immigration advice or help with Sponsorship or Tier 2 Working Visas, Visa, ILR, Settlement, Citizenship, dependant visa or an appeal against a refusal please email: 

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

Immigration officers from the UK Border Agency and Police Officers stormed the wedding at Leeds Town Hall on Monday morning.

A Pakistani groom, 23, and his 22-year-old Slovakian bride were arrested as they were about to take their vows.

Three Pakistani men and two Slovak women in the wedding party were also arrested and questioned.

Police searched a number of addresses in the city as part of their investigations.

A marriage is considered to be a sham when a non-European national marries someone from the European economic area or the UK as a means to stay in the UK, gaining the right to work and claiming benefits.

Migrants seeking to beat the immigration system target Europeans, for instance Poles, Latvians or Slovakians, rather than UK Citizens, as it is easier to obtain indefinite leave to remain (ILR) under EEA rules.

The UK Border Agency said that since last summer 155 people have been arrested for sham marriages across the UK. Source BBC.

See also:

BBC’s Panorama investigates ‘big fat sham wedding’

Sheffield sham wedding group jailed

Latvian sham bride found in bed with real boyfriend

Latvia blames Ireland for its Citizens taking part in sham marriages for money

Special work permit application forms and guidance for Bulgarian and Romanian nationals published 

Jailed people trafficking mastermind could be freed within months

If you need any immigration advice or help with Sponsorship or Tier 2 Working Visas, Visa, ILR, Settlement, Citizenship, dependant visa or an appeal against a refusal please email: 

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

See video of arrest.

It should be the most romantic day a couple can enjoy.

Surrounded by family and friends, it’s the chance for two people to tell the world they love each other. A big party, a few tears and then the happy-ever-after.

That is the way it is supposed to be, but a very different kind of marriage is on the rise – the sham marriage.

Every year in the UK hundreds of weddings take place between people who barely know each other – brides and grooms who have never met before and may never meet again.

It is a way for desperate people to try to get around immigration controls. Marry someone with an EU passport and you get to stay. It is illegal but plenty try.

In 2010, registrars reported 934 suspected sham marriages in England and Wales – 66% more than were reported in 2009.

Panorama has been investigating this worrying trend and sent me undercover into this secretive world.

Posing as a reporter for a made-up television station called Marry Me, I turned up at Brent register office in north London. With my shiny suit and cheap buttonhole, I looked worryingly convincing.

We were here for the wedding of Ghazanfar Ali and Maria. He was a 29-year-old from Pakistan, she was Spanish and 46. Our tip off was the marriage was dodgy.

I arrived before the bride and groom and – in my role as Marry Me correspondent – chatted to the wedding party.

There wasn’t a lot of romance in the air.

“Tell us about the bride,” I said to one guest, still wearing his London Underground uniform.

“I don’t know her. I was at work and he just rang me and said ‘it’s my wedding today’.”

Then the happy couple turn up. She looks much younger than her mid-40s and is asked to prove who she is.

Fortuitously she has turned up with a pile of utility bills that prove her address. The registrar has her doubts, but has to marry them.

“Looking at the couple and the interaction between them, it looked pretty suspicious,” the registrar told me.

All she could do was recommend the Home Office should investigate.

But I wanted to know more about our happy couple, so we started our own investigation.

We found Ali first. He was living in East London in a house full of men, from the steady traffic in and out of the door. Maria was nowhere in sight.

Ali ran a fast food restaurant. When we sent a researcher to talk to him, he asked her out on a date. This was just a week after his marriage.

“I live alone, no girlfriend – everyone needs a relationship”, he told our researcher.

In the eyes of the law however, he has a brand new bride.

Maria was harder to find. Her name is not registered anywhere in this country, but we found her in Majorca.

I caught up with her as she was getting back from a shopping trip and was surprised to discover she was not the same Maria as the one that married Ali.

It turns out this woman had been a victim of identity fraud.

Her passport was stolen when she was working in London last year. It was used in the marriage application.

When I told her that in the UK she was now officially married, she burst into tears.

“How could they do this to me?” said the real Maria. The truth is, quite easily.

During our investigation, we found solicitors who were more than happy to take money to process illegal applications and pimps who – for a few thousand pounds – would rent out a prostitute with paperwork to meet and marry a groom of your choice.

Sham marriages have trebled in the last three years and the situation is predicted to get worse.

Currently, a foreign national has to apply for a Certificate of Approval (CoA) from the Home Office to get married.

If someone does not have a right to be in the UK, they are denied approval.

CoAs have not stopped illegal marriages but have provided a barrier. From next month, the certificates are to be scrapped.

The Law Lords said they were an infringement of human rights as they discriminated between civil marriages and Church of England marriages which did not require the certificate.

The government has chosen not to replace them.

“What will replace them is effective enforcement,” the Home Office Minister Damian Green told me.

“That’s the way to make it clear to the criminal gang behind the sham marriages that they will get caught. And we’ve in the last few months arrested 155 of them,” Green continued.

Many registrars don’t share his enthusiasm and fear a steep rise in the number of sham marriages.

“I can’t describe how frustrating that is in terms of the system of marriage being abused, the system of our immigration laws being abused,” said Mark Rimmer, Superintendent Registrar for Brent.

When I went to knock on Ali’s door, his flatmate said he had moved out and had not been seen for a few weeks.

Maria has reported the identity theft to the Spanish Police – but they say it’s a UK matter.

The marriage still stands. There are few happy endings in the world of sham weddings.

Panorama: My Big Fat Fake Wedding, BBC One, Thursday, 24 March at 2100 GMT and then available in the UK on the BBC iPlayer. Source: BBC

See video clip on BBC website.

See also:

Sheffield sham wedding group jailed

Latvian sham bride found in bed with real boyfriend

Latvia blames Ireland for its Citizens taking part in sham marriages for money

Special work permit application forms and guidance for Bulgarian and Romanian nationals published 

Jailed people trafficking mastermind could be freed within months

If you need any immigration advice or help with Sponsorship or Tier 2 Working Visas, Visa, ILR, Settlement, Citizenship, dependant visa or an appeal against a refusal please email: 

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

The bogus bride and groom and their party were arrested last September attempting a crude immigration scam involving hastily purchased wedding rings worth £33, an interpreter to help them profess their love for one another and around £2,000 in cash.

All five were sentenced for immigration offences at Sheffield Crown Court, as follows:

• the bride – Renata Toracova, 37, from Slovakia was sentenced to 8 months;
• the groom – Sajid Ali, 31, from Pakistan (in the UK on a student visa) was sentenced to 12 months;
• Ali’s interpreter – Mahtab Khan, 37, from Pakistan (with permission to stay in UK) was sentenced to 46 weeks;
• Toracova’s interpreter – Ladislav Mizigar, 40, of Slovakia was sentenced to 9 months and;
• Slovak interpreter – Michal Gazi, 22, from Slovakia was sentenced to 9 months.

Sham marriages usually involves a non-European national marrying someone from the European Economic Area, including the UK, as means of attempting to gain long-term residency and the right to work and claim benefits.

The five were apprehended moments before they were due to tie the knot at Sheffield town hall on the morning of 10 September 2010, following an intelligence led operation by the UK Border Agency’s specialist immigration crime team.

Officers from the immigration crime team recovered 2 wedding bands still in an Argos shopping bag and a torn out page from the catalogue featuring the rings. They also found a receipt which led them to CCTV footage of the party buying the rings in Meadowhall Shopping Centre just hours before they were due to marry.

Officers recovered £1,400 from Khan – the same amount that the bride later claimed she was owed for her part in the scam, having already been paid £500 upfront. Khan later claimed he withdrew the £1,400 from a bank only minutes before the ceremony for ‘gifts and clothes’.

Neither bride nor groom were able to communicate with one another and later admitted they could not speak the other’s language. During questioning:

• Toracova admitted that she was already married back in Slovakia and that her witness, Mizigar, was actually her lover here in the UK. She added that she had only entered into the scam because she had debts of £500;
• Ali explained that he was actually a student at a college in London, but had only attended for 1 month before moving up to Sheffield and was looking for a way to stay in the UK as he was no longer studying. Both Toracova and Ali pleaded guilty;
• Mizigar admitted to having known the groom, Ali for all of 20 minutes, only meeting him the day he was picked up for the ceremony.

Evidence also recovered from Khan and Ali’s mobile phones showed text messages containing the bride and groom’s names, dates of birth and passport numbers. Michel Gazi, ‘a wedding guest’ was found to live at the same address as Toracova and her boyfriend Mizigar.

All 5 pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to breach immigration law.

Jeremy Oppenheim, regional director for the UK Border Agency in the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber, said:

‘Once again, cases like these demonstrate quite clearly that the UK Border Agency is able to identify and investigate those involved in immigration crime and bring them to justice.

‘This case is part of a wider investigation led by the UK Border Agency’s Yorkshire Immigration Crime Team, code-named, Operation Relinquish, that saw a total of 27 arrests last summer involving individuals believed to be involved in sham marriage scams in South Yorkshire alone.

‘Those attempting to break our immigration rules by obtaining a British passport fraudulently face a prison sentence, deportation and potentially being barred from re-entering the UK. ‘

DCI Dave Powell, Head of the UK Border Agency’s immigration crime teams in the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber said:

‘These prosecutions are a testament to the hard work and determination displayed by the UK Border Agency’s Immigration Crime Team into unscrupulous individuals who would seek to flout immigration laws.

‘Our specialist team works closely with registrars and local police forces to ensure people are not able to benefit from breaking the UK’s immigration laws.

‘Let today’s sentences sends a strong message to those who think they can flout immigration laws – we will take action against anyone found to have entered into a sham marriage.’

Over recent years the UK Border Agency has clamped down on sham marriages introducing family permits and encouraged registrars to highlight suspicious cases. Under the tougher rules, anyone trying to cheat the system can expect to face imprisonment for up to seven years. It is a criminal offence to be in the UK through deception and the agency said they will fully investigate any allegations or information passed to them in. Source: UK Border Agency

See also:

UK Border Agency arrest 8 non-EU students a day for breaching immigration rules

Latvian sham bride found in bed with real boyfriend

Latvia blames Ireland for its Citizens taking part in sham marriages for money

Special work permit application forms and guidance for Bulgarian and Romanian nationals published 

Jailed people trafficking mastermind could be freed within months

If you need any immigration advice or help with Sponsorship or Tier 2 Working Visas, Visa, ILR, Settlement, Citizenship, dependant visa or an appeal against a refusal please email: 

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

The charity’s move comes as part of the Home Office’s pledge to stop detaining children in the immigration system.

The UK Border Agency will convert a special needs school near Gatwick into the centre.

Ministers will have the power to order families to be held for up to a week.

The Home Office’s new system, announced earlier this year, involves increasing pressure on failed asylum families to leave with the help of various inducements and counselling.

Under the plans, a special new panel including child welfare experts will give the UKBA the go-ahead to take families to the centre when there is proof that they are resisting all other attempts to deport them.

The “Pre-departure accommodation”, described in local council planning documents, will have nine private apartments for families and spacious grounds. It also has a 2.3m high perimeter fence.

Family members might be allowed to leave the grounds under escort if officials believe they will not abscond. Families will be held for up to 72 hours initially – but some could be held for up to a week if a minister approves.

Barnardo’s, which has been part of a coalition lobbying the Home Office, says it has agreed to run welfare, counselling and children’s play services because the families involved would need support at a critical moment in their lives.

It also believes its presence will help hold the Home Office to its commitment to run a more humane removal system.

In a speech on Thursday defending the decision, the charity’s chief executive Anne Marie Carrie is expected to say that she will speak out if the centre is used routinely, rather than as a last resort.

“We recognise that when every other avenue has been explored, when a family has no right to remain in the UK and when the independent return panel deems it appropriate – secure pre-departure accommodation may, as a last resort, be necessary,” Ms Carrie is expected to say.

“For the government to meet its commitment – this accommodation cannot just be a ‘detention centre’ by another name. It needs to be a truly family-focused centre that offers its residents access to high quality welfare and support services during their last few days in the country.”

Barnardo’s decision has surprised some campaigners who believe that the UKBA has been trying to back-track on pledges made by ministers to end child detention.

Immigration Minister Damian Green welcomed Barnardo’s decision.

“It is crucial that the welfare of children remains an absolute priority during the returns process and the use of this new accommodation will be a last resort,” he said.

“It will, however, have an entirely different look and feel to an immigration removal centre with a high degree of privacy for each family.

“I believe our new approach is both fair and humane. We are providing assistance packages and family conferences to ensure families understand their options, and will be trying to ensure that families can remain in the community prior to their departure home.”

Heaven Crawley, professor of international migration at Swansea University, said the new centre was “not called detention but clearly is”.

She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We have been looking for alternatives… ever since the government announced its commitment to end detention and what’s being proposed in this new process is really something of a repackaging”.

Prof Crawley called for improvements in asylum case management so that families “accept the final decision” and return home voluntarily without having to be subject to detention.

She said there were examples of such a system working in Canada, Australia and other parts of Europe. Source: BBC.

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

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

Valid applications that were received on or before the 1 March 2011 will be considered at the 4 March panel and all sponsors who have made such an application will be notified of the outcome by 11 March 2011.

Sponsors can continue to use the existing CoS (AR) form after 1 March 2011 to apply for certificates of sponsorship for extensions of Tier 2 (General) or work permit leave where the leave expires before the proposed introduction of the permanent limit on 6 April 2011.

The UK Border Agency (UKBA) will no longer accept applications made on the CoS (AR) form after 1 March for new jobs or for switching into Tier 2 (General).

From 6 April 2011 the UKBA propose to make changes to the Tier 2 eligibility criteria and also introduce an annual limit on migrant numbers. Further details of the limit and what will be included can be found on the UKBA website.

Please note that any certificates of sponsorship issued under the interim limit that are not assigned by the sponsor to a migrant prior to 6 April 2011 will be cancelled.

See also:

Senior Carers to be removed from Shortage Occupations list following MAC recommendation

Dominica and St Lucia: Visa Waiver Test Outcome announced by Home Office

UK to increase immigration fees from 6 April

College raided by UKBA and Police, five staff arrested on suspicion of immigration crimes

Tier 2 Working visa reforms announced by UK Border Agency 

UKBA ‘failing on Tier 2 visa controls’ report finds

Arsenal’s football team – playing the immigration game

Immigration visa cap grounds Airbus UK recruitment plans

71 shortage occupations to be removed from Tier 2 visas in points-based shake up

MAC’s new list of graduate level occupations for Tier 2

Immigration cap on foreign staff will compromise patient care says NHS

London Mayor’s new attack on UK Immigration Cap

Interim Immigration Cap unlawful High Court Judges Rule

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

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

The UK completed a global review of visa requirements for visitors coming to the country last year.

As a result of this the government considered introducing visa regimes for two countries in the eastern Caribbean – St Lucia and Dominica. On the 02 March 2011, a joint Written Ministerial Statement signed by the Home Secretary and the Foreign Secretary, was laid in Parliament stating that a visa regime would not be introduced to St Lucia and Dominica.

Dominica and St Lucia have made concrete improvements to the immigration, border control and identity systems which would not have happened without the Test. In recognition of the progress made, visitors from Dominica and St Lucia will therefore continue to be able to travel to the UK without the need for a visa. Ends.

Source: Home Office.

See also: 

UK to increase immigration fees from 6 AprilCollege raided by UKBA and Police, five staff arrested on suspicion of immigration crimes

Tier 2 Working visa reforms announced by UK Border Agency 

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

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

Led away in Cuffs

The UK Border Agency have released information that five senior staff at Castle College have been arrested in Gateshead and Newcastle on suspicion of ‘immigration crimes’ during a series of co-ordinated raids yesterday.

The agency said that the arrests followed an extensive investigation carried out by the UK Border Agency North East immigration crime team into Castle College, Park Road, Felling, Gateshead.

The UK Border Agency has now suspended the college’s licence to enrol overseas students. Officers from the agency were on site this morning to advise and assist any genuine students arriving for their studies.

Four of those arrested are senior staff at the college, and were held on suspicion of using the college to facilitate immigration offences. The other person arrested was a student at the college who was found to have breached the terms of her visa.

The Monday morning raids targeted residential addresses in Saltwell Road, Gateshead, and Moorside Court, Newcastle, as well as the college itself. Those arrested on suspicion of facilitating immigration offences are a 37-year-old Pakistani woman, a 41-year-old Pakistani man, a 37-year-old Pakistani man and a 33-year-old Bangladeshi man. All are now being interviewed at police stations in Newcastle. A substantial amount of cash was also seized from a safe at the college.

A simultaneous operation at an address in Ellesmere Road, Newcastle, uncovered the Nigerian student who had overstayed her visa. She was arrested and steps will now be taken to remove her from the country.

Jeremy Oppenheim, regional director for the UK Border Agency, said:

‘The UK Border Agency takes immigration crime very seriously and will not hesitate to take the strongest possible action against those involved.

‘We have dedicated teams of UK Border Agency investigators working with police officers across the country to protect our border and prosecute those criminals who undermine and abuse our immigration control.’

Paul Foggin, who leads the UK Border Agency North East immigration crime team, said:

‘The raids that took place this morning are the result of a long and complex investigation. Those arrested are now in police custody and will be questioned today.’

Ukrainian woman jailed for 5 years over immigration scam

Indian Restaurant owner jailed for employing illegal immigrants

UK Border Agency taking tough line on illegal working but employers are still confused

CYNTHIA BARKER SAYS EMPLOYERS WHO ISSUE TIER 2 CERTIFICATES IN ERROR SHATTER MIGRANT WORKERS’ LIVES

YES, SENIOR CARERS ARE HAVING PROBLEMS OBTAINING ILR UNDER 5 YEAR RULE

Tier 2 Working visa reforms announced by UK Border Agency 

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

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

The immigration Minister Damian Green has issued a Written Ministerial Statement (PDF 91KB opens in a new window) that proposes to increase immigration and nationality application fees for all those applying to study, visit, work or stay in the UK, the Home Office announced this week.

The new ‘proposed’ fees (PDF 229KB opens in a new window) will be laid before Parliament in two separate regulations, but will not come into force untill they have been debated and approved in by Members of Parliament (MP’s). However, the statement said the new fees are ‘due to take effect from 6 April 2011’.

Under the current government spending review, the Home Office must implement a real terms reduction in budgets of up to a 20 per cent.

The UK Border Agency (part of the Home Office) is already ‘seeking to offset this income gap with efficiency savings of approximately £500 million by reducing support costs, increasing efficiencies, boosting productivity and improving value for money from commercial suppliers’.

The Home Office announcement states that these measures will ‘not go far enough’, and to address the funding shortfall the UK Border Agency will need to increase fees for financial year 2011/12.

The UK Border Agency believe the proposals to increase fees continue to ’strike the right balance between maintaining secure and effective border controls and ensuring that the fees structure does not inhibit the UK’s ability to attract those migrants and visitors that make a valued contribution’. This will ‘help to support the immigration system, maintain public confidence and ensure that migration is managed for the benefit of the UK’, the agency said.

The Guardian said:

‘The Home Office has long been able to levy a surcharge above the normal administrative costs of processing applications, but many migrants and visitors now face fees that are four to five times the actual cost of dealing with applications.’

The new fees regime includes looks set to double the charge for a short-term student visa to £140.

For instance, a whacking charge of £2,214, up from £2,050, will be levied on applications made at a public enquiry office for indefinite leave to remain (ILR), on behalf of a dependent relative –for instance an elderly parent.

The cost of applying for a 10-year visitor’s visa from outside the UK is to rise £52 to £702, a postal application for indefinite leave to remain in the UK will be £972 and a single application for British citizenship will be £836. The fee for a joint application for British citizenship will rise from £1,010 to £1,294.

A tier one, highly skilled, visa – under the points based system – will cost £1,000; a sponsored skilled migrant, classed under tier two, will be charged £550 to apply by post or £850 to apply in person at a public enquiry office. These charges contrast with the £95 charged for a work permit back in March 2003

See also:

Senior Carers to be removed from Shortage Occupations list following MAC recommendation

Tier 2 Working visa reforms announced by UK Border Agency

71 shortage occupations to be removed from Tier 2 visas in points-based shake up

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

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

Ukranian national, Halyna Semenikhina, 42-years-old of Well Street in Hackney was found guilty of assisting illegal immigration and money laundering on Wednesday 16 February following a trial at Southwark Crown Court. The judge sentenced her to 5 years in prison.

Her prosecution followed a raid on the Lanesborough Hotel on Hyde Park Corner on 12 August 2010. Two contract cleaners were arrested for immigration offences. They told officers that Semenikhina was their boss.

Investigators from the London immigration crime team discovered that Semenikhina was responsible for recruiting and supervising the employees. She had their wages paid direct into her bank account, and would charge them at least £200 per week for accommodation.

Financial investigations revealed that, at the time of her arrest, Semenikhina had more than £380,000 in her numerous bank accounts.

Chris Foster, London immigration crime team, UK Border Agency said:

‘This woman cruelly exploited the desperation of others for her own personal financial gain.

‘As this case shows, illegal immigration can be big business. I hope this sends out a message that we are committed to tackling the criminals behind it, putting the ringleaders before the courts, and, ultimately behind bars.

‘Proceeds of Crime Act proceedings are now underway, to confiscate her assets and ensure that Halyna Semenikhina never benefits from her criminality. She also faces deportation at the end of her sentence.’

The London immigration crime team is a specialist unit of police officers seconded from the Metropolitan Police working alongside warranted UK Border Agency officers to investigate organised immigration crime.

Anyone who has information about immigration crime can contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 anonymously. Source: UK Border Agency

Last week Immigration Matters report that the owner of three Indian restaurants in Cumbria, in the North of England, had been jailed for two years for employing illegal immigrants. 

The government are taking a tougher line against persistent and deliberate immigration offenders by imposing criminal rather than civil penalties.

Employers who fall foul of the law normally risk a £10,000 civil penalty for employing an illegal immigrant, but the threat of a term in prison and a criminal record is a far more serious deterrent.

Despite the threat of £10,000 fines and a widely publicised information campaign, many employers are slipping up because there is still a lot of confusion surrounding the whole area of employing foreign nationals, students and even EU workers.

For instance a common assumption is that all members of the European Union have the same rights. Wrong. Not all EU members have the right to freely work in the UK.

As members of the European Union, Bulgarians have visa-free access to the UK, however, like Romanians, they do not enjoy the same treaty rights to work at the moment as the earlier A8 Eastern European EU accession countries such as Poland and Latvia.

Employers cannot employ a Romanian or Bulgarian worker in the same way they can a Polish or other A8 accession country citizen.

Many Romanians and Bulgarians register as self employed and start businesses, which is allowed, or work and study on a Yellow Card Visa. Romanian and Bulgarian Students taking work related vocational or sandwich courses, such as NVQ in Health and Social Care, are allowed to work full time, as stated on their Yellow Cards.

Other issues which cause confusion are overseas workers on student visas and dependants of Tier 4 students and Tier 2 working visa holders.

Immigration Adviser Evelie Padadac said:

‘My employer clients are so confused by the rules surrounding Tier 2 and Tier 4 Student Visas, and in particular Romanian and Bulgarian workers who despite being EU members do not have the automatic right to work here, that they are risking huge fines.’

This week the Home Office has unveiled details of a proposed major overhaul to the Tier 2 working visa route scrapping many of the procedures brought in by the previous Government.

Employers are advised to carry out an annual ‘health check’ or employee file audit to ensure that work permit holders and workers on student visas are still legal and avoid fines of up to £10,000 or even prison.

Evelie Padadac is an OISC registered immigration adviser with Bison Management UK specializing in work and study related visas as well as a file checking audit service for employers. For a free consultation call her on 0208 905 1822.

See article:

UK Border Agency launch new website

The newly revised UK Border Agency website has a better look and feel and navigation seems faster, but previously published links to specific pages of the site may no longer exist.

For instance, the link for European Workers is now:

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/eucitizens/bulgaria-romania/work-permits/applying/

The link for ‘Bulgarian and Romanian nationals‘ is:

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/eucitizens/bulgaria-romania/work-permits/

The UK Border Agency and Home Office website contains a vast amount of information which can be difficult to wade your way through the guidance and Immigration Rules.

The navigation section for European workers from Bulgaria and Romania also appears to have been simplified although finding specific information is still a challenge.

Confusion remains over the need for Bulgarians and Romanians applying for BR1 Yellow Cards as students to take out Comprehensive Sickness Insurance cover. 

The BR1 Form in Section 9 states:

‘If sections 4 (Students) and 5 (Self-sufficient) have been completed: evidence of ‘Comprehensive Sickness Insurance’ cover in the UK and funds to show you are economically self-sufficient, e.g. a bank statement.’

In other words, the paragraph means you need comprehensive sickness insurance only if you are applying under both ‘student’ and ‘self sufficient’ sections.

Nevertheless, student applicants are being asked to take out private medical insurance policies and are being refused if they fail to supply the correct cover.

What is the correct insurance cover?

One insurance company manager told Immigration Matters that he has been trying to get clarification on the exact requirements from the UK Border Agency for several weeks.

Active Quote offers an easy to use online quotation and application system, but also has telephone support from advisers who are on hand to answer questions.

To obtain a quotation for Comprehensive Sickness Insurance visit the Active Quote website.  

See article:

UK Border Agency launch new website

The newly revised UK Border Agency website has a better look and feel and navigation seems faster, but previously published links to specific pages of the site may no longer exist.

For instance, the link for European Workers is now:

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/eucitizens/bulgaria-romania/work-permits/applying/

The link for ‘Bulgarian and Romanian nationals‘ is:

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/eucitizens/bulgaria-romania/work-permits/

The UK Border Agency and Home Office website contains a vast amount of information which can be difficult to wade your way through the guidance and Immigration Rules.

The navigation section for European workers from Bulgaria and Romania also appears to have been simplified although finding specific information is still a challenge.

Confusion remains over the need for Bulgarians and Romanians applying for BR1 Yellow Cards as students to take out Comprehensive Sickness Insurance cover. 

The BR1 Form in Section 9 states:

‘If sections 4 (Students) and 5 (Self-sufficient) have been completed: evidence of ‘Comprehensive Sickness Insurance’ cover in the UK and funds to show you are economically self-sufficient, e.g. a bank statement.’

In other words, the paragraph means you need comprehensive sickness insurance only if you are applying under both ‘student’ and ‘self sufficient’ sections.

Nevertheless, student applicants are being asked to take out private medical insurance policies and are being refused if they fail to supply the correct cover.

What is the correct insurance cover?

One insurance company manager told Immigration Matters that he has been trying to get clarification on the exact requirements from the UK Border Agency for several weeks.

Active Quote offers an easy to use online quotation and application system, but also has telephone support from advisers who are on hand to answer questions.

To obtain a quotation for Comprehensive Sickness Insurance visit the Active Quote website. 

See also:

Indian Restaurant owner jailed for employing illegal immigrants

UK Border Agency taking tough line on illegal working but employers are still confused

CYNTHIA BARKER SAYS EMPLOYERS WHO ISSUE TIER 2 CERTIFICATES IN ERROR SHATTER MIGRANT WORKERS’ LIVES

YES, SENIOR CARERS ARE HAVING PROBLEMS OBTAINING ILR UNDER 5 YEAR RULE

Tier 2 Working visa reforms announced by UK Border Agency

71 shortage occupations to be removed from Tier 2 visas in points-based shake up

Immigration cap on foreign staff will compromise patient care says NHS

Australia to speed up skilled migrant applications to boost economy

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

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