Uganda: Fake UK Visa Applicants Get 10-Year Ban
Conan Businge
Kampala
New Vision (Kampala)
20 March 2008
Posted to the web 21 March 2008
A TEN-YEAR ban will be imposed on UK visa applicants who submit forged documents.
The new immigration rules will be effected in April.
The British High Commission clearance manager, Maggie Kingsley, said: “With a few exceptions, any applicant, who submits forged documentation, or any kind of false statement in support of their application, will automatically be denied a visa and may be ineligible for another 10 years.”
He was on Monday launching the commission's immigration brochure at their offices in Kamwokya on Monday.
False statements include concealing information that an applicant has ever been denied visa(s) or misrepresenting his or her unemployment status.
Kingsley added: “The 10-year ban will send a powerful message to prospective visa applications that UK will not tolerate people using forged or fraudulent documents.”
In 2007, the UK embassy in Kampala received 10,640 visa applications, of which 3,216 were denied entry clearance.
Of the 3,216, a total of 1,072 forms were for settlement and 1,353 were students' visa applications.
In 2006, only 816 applicants were denied visas.
According to Kingsley, many people were attracted to the idea of kyeyo and illegally staying in the UK “by promises made by criminal gangs and people traffickers.”
He said the commission had launched a campaign to warn people about the dangers of falsifying visa applications.
Constance Kiyegga, the director of R4 International Ltd, an immigration service provider, urged immigrants to use professionals in processing their visas.
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 owners consent, officials said.
Kingsley explained that 10%, or 1,500 applications had 'serious' bank statements forgeries.
