Ministers plan to impose large fines on people posing as immigration lawyers
The Home Office wants to crack down on people who wrongly claim they can give immigration advice to illegal migrants on how to stay in the UK.
People posing as immigration lawyers could be slapped with large fines, as ministers plot new means to tackle the small boats crisis as part of their flagship migration Bill.
The Home Office wants to crack down on people who claim they can give immigration advice to illegal migrants on how to stay in the UK, but are not properly registered to do so.
Some among their number are giving fraudulent advice, the Government department claimed.
Immigration lawyers are required to register with the Immigration Advice Authority (IAA) if they want to give advice, and can already face jail time if they are not registered.
But the Government plans to give the IAA, a public body, the power to fine those giving advice without registration up to £15,000.
The change in the law will be introduced by an amendment to the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, which is currently making its way through Parliament on the legislative journey to become law.
The Bill is aimed at strengthening law enforcement agencies’ ability to tackle illegal migrants crossing the English Channel.
It is part of Labour’s pivot away from the deterrent scheme approach advocated by the Tories with the Rwanda deportation plan, towards one based on eliminating the criminal gangs helping people cross the sea in small boats.
Dame Angela Eagle, the minister for border security, said: “Shameless individuals offering immigration advice completely illegally must be held to account.
“That is why we are introducing these tough financial penalties for rogue firms and advisers, better protecting the integrity of our immigration system as well as vulnerable people in genuine need of advice, as we restore order to our asylum system through the Plan for Change.
“This will build on the vital work of the Immigration Advice Authority in regulating the immigration advice sector.”
A loophole in the law which allows someone banned from giving immigration legal advice to still do so with supervision will also be closed by the Government.
This will prevent people who are subject to a ban from setting up a new enterprise and keeping working.
