Shadow Industry Aids Migrants in Fabricating Gay Asylum Claims
A covert network of law firms and advisers is charging migrants thousands of pounds to fabricate gay identities to secure asylum, the BBC has uncovered.
In the initial phase of an extensive undercover investigation, it was revealed that migrants with expiring visas are provided with false narratives and coached to obtain fabricated evidence, including supporting letters, photographs, and medical reports.
These migrants then apply for asylum, claiming to be gay and fearing persecution if returned to Pakistan or Bangladesh.
The Home Office responded to the findings, stating:
"Anyone found trying to exploit the system will face the full force of the law, including removal from the UK."
The UK’s asylum system protects individuals who cannot safely return to their home countries due to danger. However, the BBC investigation exposes systematic exploitation of this process by legal advisers charging migrants who wish to remain in the country.
Many of these migrants are those whose student, work, or tourist visas have expired, rather than recent arrivals via illegal routes such as small boats.
This group now accounts for 35% of all asylum claims, which exceeded 100,000 in 2025.
Following initial evidence and tips, undercover reporters posed as international students from Pakistan and Bangladesh with expiring visas to assess immigration advisers’ willingness to facilitate false asylum claims.
'Nobody is gay here'
On a Tuesday evening at a community centre in Beckton, east London, over 175 people gathered for an event organized by Worcester LGBT, a support group for gay and lesbian asylum seekers.
Attendees had traveled from locations including South Wales, Birmingham, and Oxford. The group’s website states that only genuine gay asylum seekers are welcome.
However, men at the event admitted to the undercover reporter that many attendees were not genuinely gay.
"Most of the people here are not gays,"said a man named Fahar.
"Nobody is a gay here. Not even 1% are gay. Not even 0.01% are gay,"added another man, Zeeshan.
The undercover reporter’s contact with the group began in late February when he approached Mazedul Hasan Shakil, a paralegal at Law & Justice Solicitors, an immigration law firm with offices in Birmingham and London.
Shakil, who is also founder and chairman of Worcester LGBT, had until recently advertised his legal services on the community group’s website.
During a brief phone call, Shakil told the reporter that asylum claims require genuine fear of persecution and indicated the reporter had no grounds for asylum.
However, hours later, the reporter received a call from a woman named Tanisa, who spoke in Urdu and was more eager to assist him in applying for asylum on the basis of being gay.
"Listen to me. There is nobody who is real. There is only one way out in order to live here now and that is the very method everyone is adopting,"she said when told the reporter was not gay.
She declined to disclose who had given her the reporter’s number, but her WhatsApp profile matched that of Tanisa Khan, an adviser to Worcester LGBT.
‘A comprehensive package’
That evening, the undercover reporter traveled to Forest Gate, east London, for an initial consultation with Tanisa, which took place at her home rather than a law firm office.
He was invited inside and taken upstairs to a bedroom.
"At the moment there is only one route from where you can get a visa and it is open,"Tanisa explained, sitting on the edge of the bed.
"It is the asylum visa...it is on human rights and it is called gay case or same sex. There is no hope for any other visa."
Tanisa emphasized that the process would require effort, as the reporter would need to memorize a fabricated story for the Home Office interview.
"You are the one who has to go and take the exam. I am here to prepare everything for you but ultimately it is you who has to go there,"she said.
Over 45 minutes in her bedroom, Tanisa detailed how sophisticated some fake asylum claims can be, making detection difficult for officials.
Asylum seekers undergo an initial Home Office screening interview followed by a detailed substantive interview lasting several hours, where claims are thoroughly examined.
Decisions rejecting asylum claims can be appealed and potentially overturned in court.
"There is no check-up to find out if the person is a gay,"Tanisa told the reporter.
"The main thing is what you say. You just have to tell them that 'I am a gay and it is my reality'.
There are a lot of organisations here where there are people like you who are not gay but are applying for the visa. You are not alone,"she reassured.
She explained the deceptive approach:
"The approach we will take is this: I will fully prepare you for the interview by compiling a comprehensive package for you, including photographs of you at clubs, various other pieces of supporting evidence, an organisational letter, and additional letters of support, so that you are completely ready when I send you in."
Tanisa, who claimed over 17 years’ experience helping fabricate claims, said photographs taken at LGBT events and tickets purchased would serve as evidence.
"I will give you a letter from someone along with which we will take a few photographs and that person will write that they have engaged in physical sex with you,"she added.
Her service cost £2,500, with a warning that fees would increase if the claim was refused and appealed.
"You can live here and work and you are also eligible to claim benefits,"she explained.
When asked about the reporter’s wife in Pakistan, Tanisa replied:
"If you call her here, then we will apply for her asylum as well.
Once she's here, we can make her a lesbian."
Providing evidence
Tanisa is not a regulated immigration adviser, making it illegal for her to provide immigration advice.
She was evasive about her connection to Shakil, stating only that she worked with him.
"Lawyers and the like are supposed to show you the way. However, the actual fieldwork is something they do not handle,"she said, apparently referring to fabricating evidence.
Her links to Shakil became clearer during two subsequent meetings at Law & Justice’s Ilford offices.
"I work with a lawyer, so I use his office,"she explained.
During one meeting, the reporter was introduced to Shakil and shook his hand.
Tanisa described Worcester LGBT as "our organisation," claiming it was formally acknowledged by the Home Office for supporting LGBT+ asylum seekers.
She instructed the reporter to attend an April meeting, stating some attendees would be pursuing fake claims and others genuine.
"This meeting is essential because you are required to provide evidence to the Home Office demonstrating that, if you are gay, you are indeed affiliated with a gay organisation,"she said.
Worcester LGBT would issue a letter confirming membership, which she said was strong evidence.
Expert immigration lawyer Ana Gonzalez, with 30 years’ experience, reviewed the footage and said Tanisa was clearly breaking the law by manufacturing fraudulent claims.
"People like that [are] just really making things harder for the legitimate asylum seekers and refugees out there,"Gonzalez said.
"Particularly for something that is as intangible as being LGBTI, really, because when you are a victim of torture, when certain things happen to you, often there is a way of evidencing that, in an objective way.
When it comes to the queer community, it is not. It is just based on contact and on how you actually present and how convincing you can be on that particular day, irrespective of whether you're telling the truth or not."
After being contacted by , Tanisa attributed her comments to a "misunderstanding" due to language difficulties and denied advising false claims or fabricating evidence.
Shakil said he passed the reporter’s details to Tanisa without knowing she would offer to fabricate claims.
He said Worcester LGBT did not create or support fabricated evidence and did not determine individuals’ sexual orientation.
Worcester LGBT was investigating Tanisa’s conduct and she had no decision-making authority within the group, Shakil added.
Law & Justice Solicitors stated Tanisa had no professional connection to the firm and it was investigating unauthorized access to its London office.
The firm confirmed the undercover reporter was never a client.
Connaught Law adviser offers similar guidance
Simultaneously, the reporter met Aqeel Abbasi, a senior legal adviser at Connaught Law in London’s legal district.
Abbasi indicated willingness to help the reporter stay in the UK by guiding fabrication of evidence for a false claim.
He promised a low chance of refusal by the Home Office.
His fee was £7,000, after which his office would instruct the reporter on the process and required evidence.
"Evidence must be provided and submitted from their societies and clubs,"Abbasi said.
"Where they go, where their gay clubs are located."
When asked if he would have to attend a gay club, the reporter said he was not gay.
Abbasi responded with amusement:
"I will take some photos from there."
Abbasi also suggested finding someone to pretend to be the reporter’s male partner.
When the reporter mentioned having a wife in Pakistan, Abbasi suggested a cover story that things were "more open" in the UK and he now had a male partner.
"We will prepare a statement for you, and once you read it, you will understand exactly how it is,"Abbasi said.
‘It’s a vast problem’
Worcester LGBT holds monthly meetings attracting attendees nationwide, many of whom appear to be pursuing fake asylum claims.
Other community groups are also used by asylum seekers pretending to be gay.
Ejel Khan, founder of the Muslim LGBT Network in Luton, said:
"It's a vast problem.
People offer to pay me money to give them letters of recommendation from my organisation but I never take it. All my work is voluntary."
He added some told him,
"I'm not gay but I want to stay in this country."
Precise numbers of fabricated asylum claims are unknown.
Home Office data shows Pakistani nationals make a disproportionate number of sexuality-based claims.
In 2023, there were initial decisions on 3,430 LGBT asylum claims and nearly 1,400 new claims based on sexual orientation.
Pakistani nationals accounted for 42% of these and were the largest nationality in this category over the previous five years.
However, they were only the fourth most common nationality for all asylum applications, representing 6% overall.
There is no more recent data on sexuality-based claims.
Home Office statisticians have noted a sharp rise in asylum claims from Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and Indian nationals on study or work visas in recent years.
Nearly two-thirds of asylum seekers claiming persecution due to sexual orientation had their claims granted at the initial stage in 2023.
Ali (not his real name) came to the UK as a Pakistani student in 2011.
Before his visa expired three years later, a lawyer advised him to fabricate a gay identity to claim asylum.
"She advised me to visit my GP and demonstrate that I was suffering from depression, specifically due to this visa situation,"he said.
He did not take medication but was told to obtain it as proof of depression for the Home Office.
His initial Home Office interview was unsuccessful, and appeals increased his legal costs to over £10,000.
He attended Pride marches and gay clubs multiple times, taking photos as instructed.
also saw evidence he sought a letter from an HIV charity after falsely claiming to have the virus.
He returned to Pakistan in 2019 due to rising costs, eight years after arrival.
When his wife came to the UK in 2022 as a student, he was barred from joining her because of his failed asylum attempt.
He said three friends successfully obtained asylum by lying about their sexuality, married in Pakistan, brought their wives to the UK, and now have children.
Tighter immigration rules
The Home Office states that making a deceptive asylum application is a criminal offense, punishable by imprisonment and deportation.
"Any attempt to misuse protections designed for people fleeing genuine persecution because of their sexuality is deplorable,"a spokesperson said.
"The asylum system is built on robust safeguards to ensure every claim is rigorously and fairly assessed.
Protection is granted only to those who meet the established criteria. Abuse is actively uncovered and procedures continually reviewed to shut down misuse."
In March, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced changes to immigration rules, offering asylum seekers only temporary protection with case reviews every 30 months.
During a meeting with the undercover reporter, Tanisa expressed confidence these changes would not hinder obtaining asylum through fabricated evidence.
"They have done this now,"she warned.
"Who knows what else they might do tomorrow or the day after?"
She urged the reporter not to delay his application.
As the meeting ended, she requested:
"If you know anyone who needs help in the future, you'll bring them to me, won't you?"
Get in touch – politicsinvestigations@bbc.co.uk
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