BY OSABUOHIEN VIVIAN ROSE
In an unusual case of immigration fraud, a woman has been arrested in the UK for using different wigs and disguises to impersonate applicants during British citizenship tests. According to Home Office, as cited by BBC, the accused 61-year-old from Enfield, North London, took the “Life in the UK Test” on behalf of at least 14 other people, both male and female, to help them gain an unfair advantage in obtaining ‘indefinite leave to remain’ status which essentially means permanent residency.
The authorities executed a warrant at the accused’s home on Monday (Jan 27) and discovered a stash of false documents and an array of wigs that were seemingly worn to trick the interviewers. The woman is alleged to have taken the tests across different centres in the UK between 1 June 2022 and 14 August 2023.
The Home Office released images of her wearing the wigs as well as CCTV of her taking part in the interview. Inspector Phillip Parr, involved in the investigation, described the scheme as “dangerous”, highlighting that meticulous planning was done on her part to execute the entire operation.
“This individual is believed to have orchestrated a pre-meditated plan to avoid detection, meticulously selecting disguises and test centre locations across the country to evade the authorities,” said Mr Parr.
“As with many criminals who commit this type of crime, we believe her motive was financial gain,” he added.
The woman remains in custody with the Home Office yet to inform about future course of action.
A woman has been arrested on suspicion of completing UK citizenship tests for at least 14 applicants.
She allegedly used disguises to pass herself off as the true applicants.
These fraudsters lead to people wrongly being granted the right to remain, putting the public at risk.
