Women, men telling lies about partners to secure UK residency, investigation claims
A BBC investigation alleges some migrants are falsely claiming domestic abuse to secure faster residency in the UK via the Migrant Victims of Domestic Abuse Concession.
The concession permits migrants on partner visas who can show they are victims of domestic abuse to remain in the UK independently of their British or settled partners.
Successful applicants receive short‑term permission to stay and may later apply for indefinite leave to remain, a route the BBC says can be quicker than other immigration pathways.
Undercover reporting for the investigation recorded an immigration adviser offering to fabricate an abuse claim for £900.
“For £900 I will fabricate the claim, creating a story to tell the Home Office to secure the client’s status in the UK,” the adviser allegedly told what he did not know was a journalist.
The report says the adviser had earlier suggested the tactic unprompted when contacted by a prospective client.
The BBC also found what it describes as marketing by some advisers that promotes services intended to help clients make false claims to immigration authorities.
Legal experts quoted in the investigation warned that current Home Office verification procedures may be too weak to filter out dubious applications. “Inadequate Home Office checks are allowing them to do so based on little evidence,” the report says.
Applications under the domestic abuse concession have more than doubled in recent years, the BBC reports — rising to over 5,500 a year, an increase of more than 50 per cent in three years.
The investigation highlights individual cases in which allegations have gone unproven yet been used in immigration disputes; one example involved a British woman whose partner later avoided returning to Pakistan after counter‑accusations were made.
The concession was introduced to protect migrants who are financially or legally dependent on partners and who might otherwise be unable to leave abusive relationships without risking removal from the UK.
The BBC’s report forms part of a wider series examining alleged abuses of immigration routes.
