An illegal marriage operation run by a Government-licensed immigration adviser has been uncovered by a Sky News investigation
2010-05-27
Jayesh Patel was secretly filmed making a bogus marriage possible by supplying a groom from Slovakia to an undercover researcher from India whose student visa was about to expire.
Slovakia is part of the EU and therefore, had the woman married the groom, she would have been eligible to apply for permanent UK residency.
Mr Patel advised the couple they could pretend they were living together by setting up bank accounts in joint names.
He also offered to obtain the couple's certificate of approval to marry from the Home Office.
His fee for managing the operation and supplying the groom was £12,000.
Mr Patel, who is director of Yana Immigration UK Ltd, introduced the bride and groom at a restaurant in Wembley, west London.
Also present was an intermediary - "Neil" - who found the groom for Mr Patel.
Neil told our researcher there was little chance she would be caught as the UK Border Agency rarely checks up to make sure suspect marriages are genuine.
"They will visit your home one or two times. If you are lucky, they won't visit at all. Because many of my clients, they never visit," he explained.
Neil also advised our researcher to take pictures of herself and the groom to suggest they were in a relationship, and for the groom to leave his clothes at her home.
"Take one photo together and keep it with you. Keep his number in your phone and keep some clothes with you always. If anyone is coming for a visit you can say: 'He's gone for a while.'
"You get a passport after three years. Once you get the approval from the Home Office, you get the visa."
When confronted by Sky News, Mr Patel and 'Neil' claimed they don't arrange sham marriages. The groom refused to comment.
There has been an increase in suspected bogus marriages since the House of Lords declared that preventing two people from getting married breaches the Human Rights Act, even if one of them is in the UK illegally.
Facilitating or taking part in a sham marriage is illegal under the Asylum and Immigration Act.
Immigration minister Damian Green said: "This Government is committed to striking at the heart of illegal immigration and tackling those who break the rules.
"I have asked for the information gained by Sky News to be provided to the UK Border Agency so that if there is sufficient evidence of a crime having been committed those involved can be brought to book.
"At the same time I have asked the Immigration Services Commissioner, who regulates immigration advisers, to investigate these alleged breaches.
"She has assured me that she will investigate these matters fully and take any appropriate action."
