In Great Britain, Immigration Minister Beverley Hughes has resigned following a scandal over reports of well-organized fraud and abuse in visa applications from Romania and Bulgaria. “Applicants from Eastern Europe have to demonstrate they can set up a business generating income in Britain. Sir John [Ramsden, a senior Foreign Office official] said the embassy received 70 ‘virtually identical business plans’ from one firm of London solicitors acting for agents in Bulgaria.” James Cameron, a British consul in the Romanian capital of Bucharest, said that “fraudulent applications were being nodded through by the suitcase load without proper checks. He claimed visas had been given to [among others] builders and electricians who ‘knew nothing about bricks, mortar or electrical details’. ‘The applicants rarely know what is in their business plan, cannot speak English, and have absolutely no knowledge or experience in the type of skills needed for respective businesses,’ he said.” Home Secretary David Blunkett announced that a lawyer who had been “involved in fraud and in unacceptable illegal dealings” had been arrested at the end of February. (George Jones, “Blunkett orders inquiry after immigration scandal deepens”, Daily Telegraph, Mar. 13; Brendan Carlin and Ian Waugh, “‘Organized scam’ over immigrant entry to UK”, Yorkshire Post, Mar. 31; “Blair’s worst nightmare”, Yorkshire Post, Apr. 2).
U.K.: Great moments in immigration law
In Great Britain, Immigration Minister Beverley Hughes has resigned following a scandal over reports of well-organized fraud and abuse in visa applications from Romania and Bulgaria. “Applicants from Eastern Europe have to demonstrate they can set up a business generating income in Britain. Sir John [Ramsden, a senior Foreign Office official] said the embassy received […]
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