A shadow industry of law firms and immigration advisers is charging migrants thousands of pounds to help them pretend to be gay in order to stay in the United Kingdom, a major undercover BBC investigation has found.
The investigation revealed how migrants whose visas are due to expire are being given fake cover stories and instructed on how to obtain fabricated evidence, including supporting letters, photographs, and medical reports. They then apply for asylum claiming to be gay and in fear for their lives if they return to Pakistan or Bangladesh.
The BBC sent undercover reporters posing as international students from Pakistan and Bangladesh whose visas were due to expire. The investigation found that one law firm charged up to £7,000 to bring a fabricated asylum claim and promised that the chance of refusal by the Home Office was “very low.”
The reporters also discovered that fake asylum seekers visited GPs pretending to be depressed in order to get medical evidence to bolster their cases, with one even lying about being HIV positive. One immigration adviser boasted that she had spent more than 17 years helping bring fake claims and said she could arrange for someone to pretend they had a gay sexual relationship with a client.
In one instance, an undercover reporter was told he could bring his wife from Pakistan once he had obtained asylum in the UK, and she could then make a fake claim pretending to be a lesbian.
At a community meeting in east London organised by Worcester LGBT, which claims to be a support group for gay and lesbian asylum seekers, men readily admitted to the undercover reporter that most attendees were not genuinely gay. “Nobody is a gay here. Not even 1% are gay. Not even 0.01% are gay,” one attendee said.
A paralegal at a law firm who also founded and chairs Worcester LGBT was involved in the scheme. An adviser to the group explained how the deception would work, telling the reporter, “There is nobody who is real. There is only one way out in order to live here now and that is the very method everyone is adopting.”
The investigation also found that a senior legal adviser at another law firm promised the chance of refusal by the Home Office was “very low” and offered to help fabricate evidence for a fee of £7,000.
Home Office statistics show that Pakistani nationals make up a disproportionate number of asylum claims made on the grounds of sexuality. In 2023, Pakistani nationals accounted for 42 percent of such claims.
In response to the findings, the Home Office said anyone found trying to exploit the system would face the full force of the law, including removal from the UK. “Any attempt to misuse protections designed for people fleeing genuine persecution because of their sexuality is deplorable,” a spokesperson said.
Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the legal advisers identified “should be prosecuted for immigration fraud,” adding that “the whole system is rotten.”
Labour MP Jo White, a member of the home affairs select committee, said the government must “crack down” on the law firms and advisers exposed by the BBC, expressing hope that police would investigate.
