UK government to crackdown on fake immigration advisers

United Kingdom, 7th December: The UK government is going to act tough against the immigration advisors found guilty of abusing the UK immigration system.

The government has announced its plans of reviewing the UK immigration system for regulation of immigration consultants in the nation in order to weed out growing menace of system abuse in the recent past.

Giving details about the UK government’s plans, Theresa May, the UK Home Secretary said the present regulatory body will either get axed or will be merged with some other government body.

As of now, the immigration advisors in the UK are answerable to the OISC (Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner.

The announcement about the crackdown on the UK immigration system comes in the wake of a recent report by a news publication stating that the current system was allowing easy access to unscrupulous advisors in the UK to cheat increased number of migrants wanting to come to the UK.

The report pointed out to the case of a registered immigration advisor who was allowed to practice as an adviser despite facing a police inquiry.

Ms. May said that those found to be breaking the law will be barred from practicing as immigration advisers.

The aim of the scheme initiated by Jack Straw, the Labor Home Secretary, in the year 1999 in order to make the immigration guidance less costly than the fees of a lawyer.

Becoming an immigration advisor seems to have become much more easier than becoming a solicitor. In order to become an immigration consultant, you don’t need to pass any university degrees, or undergo a couple of years of on-the-job training. You just need to clear a couple of online multiple choice tests, a correspondence program concerning the rudiments of laws of immigration and undergo a check from Criminal Records Bureau.

No wonder, the UK has around 4,000 registered legal immigration advisors.

The apathy of the regulatory body of immigration advisors in the UK-OISC- is that it is not authorized to issue suspension orders for the advisors undergoing police investigation for involvement in criminal activities.

Hence, the new UK government is now committed to stopping such activities of immigration advisors in the UK to curb immigration crime, an official spokesperson of UK Home Office asserted.