The United Kingdom’s Immigration Advice Authority (IAA) on 11 May unveiled its first nationwide awareness drive urging migrants to “check before you trust” when choosing an immigration adviser. The campaign follows a 40 % rise in complaints about unregulated advisers over the past two years, many involving Polish citizens applying for skilled-worker visas or EU Settlement Scheme family permits. Research cited by the IAA shows that cost-conscious applicants often rely on community-based advisers advertising on social media; only a third realise that, under UK law, paid advisers must be IAA-authorised. Unqualified advice can lead to flawed applications, missed deadlines and even ten-year re-entry bans for deception. The new campaign will run in Polish on Facebook, TikTok and regional radio stations in London, Birmingham and Manchester, cities that host large Polish diasporas. The authority has launched a revamped online Adviser Register, allowing users to filter by language and accreditation level. Employers that outsource visa processing are reminded that hiring an unregulated adviser can trigger Home Office civil penalties of up to £10,000 per case and jeopardise their sponsor licence. Polish HR teams sending staff to the UK should: 1) verify that their immigration vendor holds IAA registration; 2) include due-diligence clauses in service contracts; and 3) circulate the register link to assignees’ families, who often seek low-cost “paper help” for dependent visas.
Source: GOV.UK
