UK slaps 10-year-ban on fraudulent visa applicants
Ferry Online Travel News 21/09/2009
Producing fake documents while applying for visas will invite punitive measures
Foreigners who try to procure UK visas using fraudulent means will now face a ten-year-ban on travelling to Britain.
This latest move is part of efforts to stop would-be travellers from using unscrupulous means to acquire visas to the UK. Presenting fake documents when applying for visas to Britain has been a common practice in Nigeria, and UK authorities hope the punitive measures would discourage such acts in the future.
The British High Commission is working closely with the Special Fraud Unit of the Nigeria Police Force [NPF] to clamp down on efforts to procure visas by producing fake documents. The High Commission has recently donated special equipment to the NPF, to help in this process.
The High Commission says it hopes the new equipment will help the NPF to track down manufacturers and suppliers of fake documents. It is hoped that this will lead to the NPF being able to carry out effective, targeted exercises against perpetrators of such fraud, and that guilty can be prosecuted.
The High Commission has made it clear that it welcomes legitimate travellers to the UK, and including Nigerian citizens who benefit the UK through tourism, study and business, but has also stresses that people applying for visas by fraudulent means would not be allowed to travel.
Fake documents filed in visa applications in the past have included fake bank statements, letters of invitation and other documents.
← New cruise ferry for Cork | Index | UK gets £2.5million sea rescue centre →