Law firms are charging thousands of pounds to help migrants pretend to be gay so they can stay in the UK, a BBC investigation has found. The Telegraph has more.

Migrants whose visas have run out are being provided with fake cover stories and guided on how to obtain fabricated evidence such as letters, photographs and medical reports.

They then apply for asylum claiming to be gay, which they say would put them at risk of persecution if they were to return to Pakistan or Bangladesh.

Pakistan and Bangladesh have the highest numbers of asylum claimants who originally came to Britain on visitor, student or work visas before switching to claim refugee protection to remain in the country.

Nearly 10,000 Pakistanis entered the country with temporary visitor, work or student visas before switching in 2024 to claim asylum in an attempt to secure permanent residency in the UK, according to Government data. They were followed by Indians and Bangladeshis.

The new disclosures, revealed by a BBC investigation, is likely to intensify demands for Shabana Mahmood, the Home Secretary, to impose a visa ban on Pakistan over its failure to take back rejected asylum seekers.

Pakistan accounts for one in 10 of all asylum seekers but just 4% of those whose claims are rejected are returned to the country.

The Telegraph revealed on Monday how migrants were lying about their nationality to gain asylum. We disclosed how an Iraqi migrant falsely claimed to be a member of a stateless minority group in Kuwait to boost his chances of securing asylum in the UK.

In response to the BBC findings, the Home Office said: “Anyone found trying to exploit the system will face the full force of the law, including removal from the UK.”

The fake gay scam involved migrants whose student, work or tourist visas had expired. This group comprises 35% of all 100,000 asylum claims – and is on par with the number claiming protection after arriving on small boats across the Channel.

The BBC investigation found law firms were charging up to £7,000 to bring a fabricated asylum claim and promised that the chance of refusal by the Home Office was “very low”.

Fake asylum seekers visited GPs pretending to be depressed to get medical evidence to bolster their cases, with one even lying about being HIV positive.

One immigration adviser boasted that she had spent more than 17 years helping bring fake claims and said she could arrange for someone to pretend they’d had a gay sexual relationship with a client.

A BBC undercover reporter was told he could bring his wife over from Pakistan once he had been granted asylum in the UK and she could then make a fake claim pretending to be a lesbian.

A lawyer linked to another firm told an undercover reporter he had helped people pretend to be gay or an atheist to successfully obtain asylum. He offered to help with a fake claim for a fee of £1,500 and said it would cost a further £2,000-£3,000 to create evidence.

Read More: Law Firms Helping Migrants to Pose as Gay to Get Asylum