Scams bedevil visa scheme

Migrants were found working in regular employment in breach of their visas
Migrants were found working in regular employment in breach of their visas
RICHARD POHLE/THE TIMES

An immigration scheme to attract overseas entrepreneurs to the UK has been found to be riddled with scams involving shell companies and migrants applying for minicab licences.

Migrants were found working in regular employment in breach of their visas while for others there was no economic activity discovered in the tax year examined, or no records of them with the tax authorities.

Others took over existing businesses despite promising that they were going to start up their own companies, while some used the scheme to delay their removal from the UK, a report from the government’s official immigration advisers said.

In one case, a Pakistani migrant took over the family printing business in Pakistan and was given a visa to set up a branch in