Immigration fraudster used ‘wigs and disguises’ to complete UK citizenship tests for others

A 61-year-old woman has been arrested for allegedly using an ‘array of wigs’ and other disguises to complete UK citizenship tests for at least 14 applicants.

The Home Office said on Monday that the woman was arrested on suspicion of fraudulently completing Life in the UK tests and allowing applicants to ‘gain an unfair advantage’.

The woman, who has not been named, is alleged to have donned various wigs and disguises to pass herself off as the true applicants, both male and female, in an attempt to fraudulently obtain them leave to remain.

The Home Office said investigators executed a warrant at an address in Enfield in north London on Monday, with officers seizing ‘several false documents and an array of wigs alleged to have been used in the fraudulent scheme’.

Officers acted on intelligence that between June 1 2022 and August 14 2023, the woman allegedly attended multiple test centres in the UK, disguising herself and doctoring ID documents to evade detection from authorities.

The Home Office said fraudsters completing the test for others could ‘lead to people wrongly being granted the right to remain in the country without the proper due diligence’.

Home Office immigration enforcement criminal and financial investigation inspector Phillip Parr said a ‘complex investigation’ had ‘put a stop to this dangerous scheme’.

Mr Parr added: ‘This individual is believed to have orchestrated a premeditated plan to avoid detection, meticulously selecting disguises and test centre locations across the country to evade the authorities.

‘As with many criminals who commit this type of crime, we believe her motive was financial gain.’

The Home Office said the woman remains in custody.

The Life in the UK Test is a requirement for anyone seeking to obtain indefinite leave to remain or naturalisation as a British citizen.

The Home Office said it consists of 24 questions aimed at ‘proving the applicant has sufficient knowledge of British values, history and society’.