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00:03they're the immigration fraudsters do you have something like maybe you made a
00:08story for me what are you gonna say helping asylum seekers with no
00:14legitimate case to stay in the UK encouraging people to lie about their
00:29sexuality in your experience how much of a problem is that it's a vast problem advising
00:47some migrants to make false allegations of domestic abuse but mine mine is not genuine
00:53I know it's absolutely disgraceful disgraceful those that are abusing the system are making
01:02it more difficult for genuine victims of domestic violence we've gone undercover to expose this
01:09hidden world of illegality are you happy with the story of another your backstory yes on a London
01:30street our reporter is preparing to go undercover yep sure we're looking for the legal advisors who
01:37are encouraging people to cheat the immigration system your cover story is going to be that you
01:42came to the country legally um yes I did come legally my visa runs out in a couple of months
01:48time and then
01:50I need another extension so looking for ways to stay yeah I'm looking for ways to stay
01:58our reporter is posing as a former student they're not being persecuted they've got no genuine basis to
02:05claim asylum but there appears to be no shortage of advisors willing to help anyway we made a call
02:12to a legal advisor in Ilford East London mass he told us you have to fear persecution to apply for
02:19asylum it can't just be because you want to stay in the country and you need evidence to support your
02:29claim hello our undercover reporters phone rings out of the blue someone's got in touch from a number
02:44that we have not got saved so we haven't contacted them yeah and then I don't know who this person
02:47is
02:47well her name is Tanisha and she knows that you're interested yeah in gay she goes uh yeah that's
02:53why I'm calling you I said but I'm not a gay she goes doesn't matter no one's gay this is
02:58the only this
02:58is the only option for you guys to stay in the country so yeah come to me we'll do everything
03:17oh yeah how's it going so you got this you got that phone call this afternoon while we were filming
03:24just from an unknown number so we've traced the number back and she works with mass the guy that
03:31you rang this morning right the guy the paralegal who said you needed you need to genuinely in fear
03:37you need to be persecuted in your home country he wasn't willing to seemingly break any of the rules
03:43well it looks like he's just passed this number straight over to this woman who's an associate of
03:47his who works with the same group the same LGBT group and whose house it is you're about to go
03:52to
03:59you now this will turn out to be the first of several meetings with Tanisha Khan sorry this type of
04:05the next one thier your family you don't want to go to the next one to do it soicos we're
04:10coming up
04:10oh yeah so now now you have one different one which is the one that is the first the one
04:14you have
04:16and which one you have uh yeah then you have a visa in which one you have over the first
04:26time you have a
04:26visa you have a visa in which one you have nothing to tell most of the time you have a
04:30visa on which one you
04:31have to get them to the same sex that you have in which two cases almost X for you right
04:34now they struggle
04:35You have to prove that you are a LGBT person.
04:39I am not the person.
04:41I am not the person.
04:42I am the person.
04:42I am not the person.
04:43I am the person.
04:44You have done it.
04:46I have done it.
04:47I have done it.
04:48And it is a work done or not.
04:49I am the person.
04:50How much work done?
04:52I am the person.
04:54I am the person.
04:54But when I am doing this, I will show you a person with a person.
05:00And you will show you how physical sex is.
05:03Who are we?
05:04I am peaking.
05:07She has been working on this for the past 17 or 18 years.
05:10Wow.
05:11She has done so many cases.
05:13It is so easy to get a visa on the gay asylum.
05:17Everyone almost gets this.
05:19I told her that I have got a wife in Pakistan.
05:21She goes, have you got kids?
05:22I said, no, I don't have no kids.
05:24And then she is telling me, oh, she can also be on a lesbian visa then.
05:27And I was like, okay.
05:29So she clearly knew you weren't gay.
05:32It was a genuine claim.
05:32I told her I am not gay at all.
05:35I said to her once, I get my indefinite leave to remain.
05:40Can I, you know, say this is my wife?
05:42She goes, yeah, that's fine.
05:43They don't ask you after that.
05:44Once you get your indefinite leave to remain.
05:46There is no checks.
05:46There is no checks.
05:47You can do whatever you like.
05:49It is extraordinary, isn't it?
05:50The switch from this guy saying, you can't do that.
05:55It's got to be legitimate.
05:56You've got to be being persecuted to, here you go.
06:00Everyone does it.
06:00You don't have to be gay.
06:01Here's the evidence.
06:02Here's how you do it.
06:03Here's the money you need to pay me.
06:04And it will happen.
06:05You can stay in the UK.
06:17To claim asylum, someone must fear persecution in their own country and be unable to live safely there.
06:25If their claim is successful, they may be granted refugee status or humanitarian protection.
06:32They'll then have permission to stay in the UK for two and a half years.
06:37After that time, their case is reviewed.
06:39If they're granted another two and a half years and stay for that time, migrants can then apply for indefinite
06:46leave to remain.
06:50Sexual orientation can be grounds for a legitimate fear of persecution.
06:55But claimants must have evidence to show the Home Office.
06:58Tanisha says she'll help for a fee.
07:16Tanisha says she'll help for a fee.
07:22Is that what an advisor should be doing in a case like this?
07:25Absolutely not.
07:26This is the very last thing an advisor should be doing.
07:28So this person is breaking the law, is committing fraud by manufacturing a claim to give to this person.
07:34An oven ready claim, so to speak.
07:36I would expect the police to pay her visa and charge her with fraud because this is exactly what she's
07:42doing.
07:42It's as clear as that to you?
07:44To me it is, yes.
07:45To me it is, yes.
07:47We're meeting again with Tanisha, this time at the offices of the law firm where Maz works.
07:52We're meeting again with Tanisha, this time at the office.
07:53What is your organization?
07:55What organization?
07:56It's Rochester, the LGBT Assigned Seekers Group.
08:00It's important that you have to give evidence that if you are gay, you will not be gay.
08:11Yes.
08:21The reporter makes a down payment of £150 to become a client.
08:30You've arrived at your destination.
08:36He goes along to his first meeting, not in Worcester as it turns out, but in Bechtun, East London.
08:47Here, Tanisha isn't just one of the group's advisers, but a star attraction.
08:52A photo with her and others from Worcester LGBT, together with proof of regular attendance,
08:57can be used as evidence to support an asylum claim.
09:01Our reporter who is in there, the meeting is going on right now.
09:05And every time we've driven past, there's more and more people going in.
09:08It's clearly absolutely packed in there.
09:10And we know from Tanisha that a lot of them, like our reporter, are just pretending to be gay.
09:15How many people are there?
09:17200 plus people.
09:18200 plus people.
09:20200 plus people.
09:21200 plus people.
09:22Are they all gay?
09:25Yes, all gay.
09:41One after another, those attending tell our undercover reporter that many people at the meeting
09:47are not really gay.
10:07They've come here from South Wales, Coventry, Birmingham.
10:11For tonight?
10:12Yeah, for tonight.
10:13And they're going back tonight after the event.
10:14Just to go to that meeting?
10:15Just for the event.
10:16So this isn't just people in London, this is people from all over the country?
10:19Yep.
10:20And they're all coming to this meeting in Becton to get proof that they're there?
10:24Yep.
10:24To then give it to the Home Office and say, I'm genuine?
10:29Tanisha Khan told the BBC she did not advise our reporter to make a false claim or to misrepresent
10:35his identity.
10:36She denied offering to create fabricated evidence.
10:39And she blamed communication difficulties for a misunderstanding, saying she does not speak
10:44Urdu fluently.
10:49Look at us.
10:50We're from all parts of the world.
10:52Some of us are born here.
10:53Some of us are not.
10:54Yeah?
10:54It doesn't matter.
10:55It comes from a dating community.
10:57The LGBTQ black community.
11:00I'm a gay Muslim man who was born in British Isles in 1974 July.
11:04I've grown up here.
11:05I've faced so many obstacles in my life.
11:07Physical attacks.
11:08And for me, you know, I always felt that I would advocate for people who are gentlemen.
11:13Some of you may not know me, but I've been doing this as long as they have.
11:17I promise you.
11:18Would you just be able to explain why it is some people need to seek asylum because of
11:25their sexual orientation or their religious beliefs?
11:28Well, it depends where you are in the world.
11:30Some countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, you could be privy to long prison sentences.
11:33Other countries like, say, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Muslim-majority countries, they're fighting
11:38Sharia, Sharia law, which outlaws homosexuality in all its forms and has a death penalty applied.
11:44So we talk about genuine asylum seekers in this country.
11:47We also talk about who's a genuine asylum seekers, who's not.
11:49If someone is fleeing their country on grounds of sexuality and, you know, they're privy to
11:54a death sentence, they're literally fleeing for their lives.
11:57So it's important grounds, you know, to apply for asylum.
12:05More than 100,000 people applied for asylum in 2025.
12:10Some had arrived on small boats across the Channel.
12:13But there were also many already in the UK legally, on work or study visas.
12:21Pakistani nationals make up a disproportionate number of the claims made under the grounds of sexuality.
12:27They made up 42% of such claims in 2023, the most recent year for which data is available.
12:35That's way ahead of any other nationality.
12:38In the same year, Pakistani nationals accounted for just 6% of overall asylum applications.
12:46We're looking at people who are abusing that genuine need and making fake claims, falsely claiming to be gay or
12:52falsely claiming to have certain religious beliefs or certain political beliefs.
12:55In your experience, how much of a problem is that?
12:58It's a vast problem.
12:59So yes, I felt in the last decade it's become much worse.
13:11Back in central London, we went undercover again.
13:16This time, we had a meeting at a different law firm.
13:22The advisor there appeared happy to talk about faking an asylum application.
13:26How do we speak?
13:29What do we know in our society?
13:32They all know.
13:34They all know their lives?
13:36They also know their lives in their lives.
13:38In your country, they all know their lives.
13:40They know their lives.
13:41In our family and their lives.
13:41However, maybe you know somebody who has already put conta data,
13:45which has just been found in place.
13:47Okay.
13:48They can also bring a company that may be the same in relationships or have a bad relationship.
14:14There is manufacturing a claim. It's manufacturing evidence.
14:17One person will come to you for advice on an asylum claim, will provide the facts,
14:21and your job as a lawyer is to analyse those facts and come up with evidence to support those facts,
14:26to be able to bring the client over the line.
14:28And why shouldn't there be manufacturing evidence?
14:31Because that is illegal and unethical.
14:34Akhil Abbasi denies allegations of dishonesty and malpractice.
14:39He told us that the applications he deals with are based strictly on the client's own instructions,
14:44and that he does not fabricate accounts or evidence.
14:50People offer to pay me money to give them recommendations, you know, and such like.
14:56Recommendations?
14:57A letter of recommendation, say, for my organisation.
15:00They've worked with us and they're activists and they're working against, you know,
15:05homophobia in other countries.
15:07So, you know, I can give them a letter to say their Home Office.
15:10And they're asking you for that letter to use for their asylum claim?
15:14Yes, sometimes they offer me money, but I never take it.
15:19They're offering you money to write a letter?
15:20Yes.
15:21And are there genuine applicants who haven't been successful getting asylum
15:24because of the suspicion that's being cast by this problem sitting alongside it?
15:28Yeah, it's happening all the time.
15:32Deliberately falsifying evidence to support an asylum claim can be a serious offence.
15:37And it doesn't always work.
15:39We spoke to one man who admitted making a fake application several years ago using a different legal advisor.
15:46Speaking to us from Pakistan, he asked not to be identified.
15:51Did she ask if you were gay?
15:52When she asked me, she said, I didn't.
15:55She said, this is my job.
15:57You told her you're not gay.
15:59And she said, that's my problem.
16:01We went to London.
16:02We went to London.
16:04We went to London.
16:05He had to prepare her on the office.
16:06You would do this type of dressing, like this, and go.
16:11Go to London.
16:12That is where you're going to London.
16:13The place that goes to London, which is a big year, has been given to us twice.
16:20We went to there twice.
16:21You would go for pictures.
16:44after lengthy appeals he failed to convince the home office but he said his friends succeeded
16:51how much did you give her in total
17:16yes so far our investigation had uncovered a string of sexuality based
17:21fake asylum claims and legal advisors willing to break the rules but it was about to reveal
17:26an even darker form of deception advisors selling help based on rules designed to protect
17:32some of society's most vulnerable encouraging migrants with british partners to pretend to
17:37be victims of domestic abuse
17:47we're on our way to meet eli sis wacker he's an immigration advisor although he's not registered
17:55as he should be by law i use the uk on the sparks visas and your relationship ended because of
18:04domestic abuse eli's social media frequently mentions domestic abuse as a route to permanent
18:10residency this could lead to and definitely to live to remain all right i have a good thanks
18:21so basically la what evidence are we going to use because there is she doesn't hit me or anything so
18:27there's no domestic violence so how will it work um orally you two have been having an argument
18:36and then she's been telling you things like uh remember i'm the one who will you hear those kind
18:43of things okay yeah i'm just worried because they because i've never done anything like this before
18:50and then i was you know that i had another option before but then that option is not good for
18:54me
18:55because no no no this is option yeah this option is good for you but i just don't want to
18:59get in
19:00trouble like for any immigration or anything so we can hold it your application under the migrant
19:07victims of domestic abuse concession has been successful you've done that this that's what i'm
19:14showing you yeah so nothing to worry so this person has the similar case like me yeah yeah domestic yeah
19:23but it's actually domestic or no yeah but this one is a woman oh so the woman is taking the
19:29filing
19:30domestic abuse against the men yeah your case is the man yeah but mine mine is not genuine i know
19:37so
19:38the the case we're going to play is the victim of the domestic abuse victim of domestic abuse that's the
19:46first step this is the first step and then the second step we apply for indefinitely lived to remain
19:52as a victim of domestic abuse and then you saying there is no way they can prove that it's not
19:58a
19:58genuine case like it's not it's not domestic case they're not going to find out we're going to have
20:04to do it formally but your wife will not be affected no i'm not worried about my wife on this
20:10one but
20:11home office will not say oh there was no domestic violence or this if you're not genuine or anything like
20:17this i did i did say we're going to use i will put your case under psychological domestic abuse
20:26you know when someone's playing with your mind yeah yeah just to be on the safe side that i understand
20:33do you have something like maybe you made a story for me what are you going to say no no
20:38i do i'll pray
20:39well so that is that is fairly shocking really because the domestic violence provisions are there
20:49to protect extremely vulnerable um victims of domestic violence is absolutely disgraceful
20:56disgraceful what makes what makes you use such strong language well because of the sheer vulnerability
21:04of someone who is trapped in a domestic violence situation it is a scourge in our society how many
21:10women die at the hands of their partners and family members it is a huge problem and someone like this
21:16coming and manipulating the system for when something that is really there to protect hugely people who
21:22are sometimes often fleeing for their lives really from abusive partners is for me it's the lowest of the law
21:28personally
21:29eli siswaka did not respond to a written request for comment but during a call to tell him about our
21:35investigation he denied being willing to make up a story that the undercover reporter had been a victim
21:41of domestic abuse we've obtained new figures on claims for permanent residency due to domestic abuse
21:51that they show a rise from 3 700 to nearly 5 600 people a year now applying under this scheme
22:01that's an increase of more than 50 percent in two years
22:08this woman who can't be identified met her ex-husband on a muslim dating app he was promising me the
22:15world
22:15like i'm gonna take you here i'm gonna take you there i'm going to treat you to this i'm gonna
22:19buy you gold proper love bombing me it was after the marriage he told me he needs citizenship in the
22:25country and i need to sponsor him so he romanced his way into sponsorship basically he became fully
22:33controlling very abusive he started demanding that he wanted a baby in the country and i think his
22:41friends at the time were telling him you should have a baby to secure yourself here so he was trying
22:47very hard to get me pregnant and unfortunately that included rape as well he enjoyed torturing me
22:55he enjoyed physically abusing me by now pregnant she reported her partner to the police ended the
23:02relationship and told the home office so he just came back from work or wherever he was and discovered
23:07you weren't there yes what did he do at that point after i went back to my parents house he
23:11did an
23:12allegation of domestic abuse without me knowing so you've described a whole pattern of behavior where
23:17you're the victim of domestic yes over a number of months including physical abuse yeah and now he's
23:22going to the police and saying that he is a victim of domestic abuse why is he doing that i
23:27think his
23:27friends told him that's the only way he can stay here if i'm no longer with him for him to
23:32turn the
23:33narrative around and say i'm the perpetrator it was heartbreaking how can this guy be for real and
23:40going back to this kind of breakdown of the relationship he alleges that it was from your
23:44side that you were um checking up on him when he left the family home stopping him speaking to friends
23:50and family checking his phone without his permission accusing him of being unfaithful is there
23:54any truth to any of that there's no evidence and there's no truth to any of that
24:00in 2023 she was arrested and ended up in a police cell answering what she says were further false
24:07claims made by her ex-husband as soon as i left custody they put me on bail for three months
24:14when i left i went to breastfeed my baby and when i got home i just wanted to end my
24:19life
24:21none of the allegations her ex-husband made have been proven including the claims of domestic abuse
24:27that she says he was able to use to stay in the country
24:37there is a massive loophole in the uk immigration system that allows people to live here permanently
24:46criminal defense lawyer jabran hassein says the current rules are too lax
24:52it's important that those in power be it the government or the home office take action on this
24:59because this practice is becoming more and more widespread and the victims of this practice
25:06are genuine victims of domestic violence for whom people abusing the system will make it harder under the
25:14immigration rules uh it's not necessary to get a conviction it's not necessary to even have the
25:22case charged um the fact that you've made a report and you've got a crime reference number sometimes
25:28is enough uh to get settlement the problem was that someone here in the uk on a spouse on a
25:35spousal
25:35partner visa victim of domestic violence didn't if that person left the relationship due to domestic
25:41violence that person had to leave the uk unless fun they found a way to qualify for a different type
25:47of visa under the immigration rules so they had to choose between staying with an abusive partner correct
25:51or staying in the uk that was the that was the upshot for the vast majority of people in the
25:56situation it's really important massively important massively important this route was well intended
26:03and it was there to protect some of the most vulnerable in society victims of domestic violence
26:08but i think there's certain people out there that see see it okay to abuse that for their own gain
26:15or to get settlement here fast track responding to our findings home office minister jess phillips called
26:27the abuse of domestic abuse rules utterly shameful she said fraudulent applicants would find themselves
26:33on a one-way flight out of britain and advisors facilitating the fake claims would be put behind bars
26:40on the rules about sexuality the home office said anyone trying to exploit the system
26:44will face the full force of the law
26:49our investigation has uncovered systematic attempts to cheat the immigration system
26:53and revealed some of those who are profiting from it asylum and domestic abuse protections
26:59are there for the many genuine applicants escaping danger but it's possible there are hundreds
27:04even thousands of people who are in the country on the basis of a fraudulent claim
27:13maz told us he was unaware that tanisha khan would offer to fabricate an asylum claim and would have
27:18reported her if he suspected her of doing so he said musk khan had only visited law and justice's office
27:24in
27:25ilford on two occasions one of which was a social visit he said worcester lgbt does not fabricate evidence in
27:34asylum claims he said its events were open to people who self-identify as lgbtq plus and that
27:41it is not up to them to determine if an individual is actually gay
27:47tanisha khan told us that she was not involved with law and justice solicitors
27:51and that she does not hold any legal or advisory role within worcester lgbt
27:57law and justice solicitors said it had no professional connection with tanisha
28:01and our reporter was never set up as a client of the firm
28:04it said it was investigating potentially unauthorized access to its office
28:11conat law told us that akila bassi's contract with the firm had been suspended
28:15whilst a full internal investigation is undertaken the firm said it had reported the matters raised to
28:21the solicitors regulation authority
28:45task force
28:46right
28:46so
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