UK Visa Scams Exposed

Work permits and visas are worth money in the UK and criminals exploit that fact. Image by Editor.

Introduction to UK Visa Scams

BBC undercover filming has exposed agents scamming foreign workers with fake UK nursing home and construction jobs by abusing visa sponsorship rules.

One of the agents is Dr Kelvin Alaneme, a Nigerian psychiatrist who once worked for the National Health Service. The BBC found that it’s easy for these agents to cheat people, stay hidden, and make money.

Findings of the BBC Investigation

Here’s what the BBC found:

Agents are illegally selling nursing home jobs in the UK.
They create fake payroll records to hide that some jobs don’t exist.
They are now offering fake jobs in construction, another sector with staff shortages.

More people are falling for these scams since 2022, when the UK made it easier for care workers to get visas. To apply, workers need a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) from a licensed UK employer. Scammers are using this requirement to cheat people.

Risky Sponsorship System

Dora-Olivia Vicol from the Work Rights Centre said that the sponsorship system is risky. It gives too much power to employers and has led to a black market of dishonest middlemen.

Undercover Investigation

BBC undercover reporters met with agents in the UK. One reporter spoke to Dr Alaneme, who runs a business called CareerEdu. He claimed he had 9,800 happy clients and said the reporter could get rich by helping him find care homes. He offered to pay her £2,000 per care home job plus £500 commission. He would then sell those jobs to people in Nigeria.

Selling jobs to candidates is illegal in the UK. Dr Alaneme admitted the workers “are not supposed to be paying” but do it anyway because it’s often their only chance.

Victims of the Scam

One man, Praise from Nigeria, said he paid over £10,000 for a care job. But when he arrived in the UK, he found there was no job. The company named on his visa, Efficiency for Care, had given out 1,234 CoS but only had a small staff. The UK government cancelled their license in 2023. However, the company still denies doing anything wrong.

Other Agents Involved

The BBC also filmed Nana Akwasi Agyemang-Prempeh, another UK agent. People said they paid him tens of thousands of pounds for jobs that did not exist. He gave out fake CoS documents, which copied real ones from care companies.

He later started a construction business and got a sponsorship license from the Home Office. When an undercover journalist asked him to bring over workers, he said it would cost £42,000 for three people. He said care sector rules were tightening, so agents were now looking at other industries like IT.

Government Action

The UK Home Office says it’s taking action against dishonest employers and plans to ban companies that break the rules from hiring overseas workers. In April 2025, care homes in England must try to hire foreign workers already in the UK before recruiting from abroad.

Similar Scams

Similar scams have also been found in India and among international students in the UK.

Documentary

The BBC’s undercover investigation into UK visa scams is featured in the BBC World Service documentary “Job Scams: Selling the UK Dream”. It is available to watch now on BBC iPlayer and YouTube (outside the UK).

You can watch it here on the BBC iPlayer or on YouTube if you’re outside the UK.

Sources: BBC, UK Home Office.

Conclusion

The UK visa scams exposed by the BBC are a serious issue that affects many foreign workers who are desperate to find work in the UK. The scams are made possible by the risky sponsorship system and the lack of effective regulation. The government must take action to prevent these scams and protect the rights of foreign workers.