Forged Visa documents to UK to attract ten year ban

Effective April 2008, any applicant who submits forged documents or false statements in support of Visa application to UK, would automatically be barred from applying Visa to UK for ten year period.

False statements would include forged documents, misrepresenting employment status or even concealing information. UK has recently amended its immigration rules, and through this amendment banning applicants for ten year period, it seeks to send a powerful message to prospective visa applications that UK will not tolerate people using forged or fraudulent documents.

UK has toughened Visa sanction rules, and only about 1/3rd of the applicants are able to get Visa to UK. The sanction rate from Asia and Africa is even lower.

UK has also launched a campaign to warn people against forging documents and educating prospective applicants about false promises made by criminal gangs and people traffickers.

In February, the UK and USA embassies announced that bank statements for visa applications would be be issued electronically by the banks to avoid forgery. The move was prompted by an "alarming" number of forged bank statements and those issued without the owner’s consent.