Britain plugs Zimbabwe visa loophole

Britain plugs Zimbabwe visa loophole

• Britain still a magnet for Zimbabweans

• 6 years for hit-and-run Zim refugee

• Zanu PF UK asylum network exposed

• Police shed more light on visa scam

• Zim man nabbed in visa scam

By Staff Reporter

BRITAIN has plugged an immigration loophole exploited by Zimbabweans trying to beat the strict visa regime put in place to slow down refugee arrivals.

Zimbabweans have been known to gain visas by telling immigration officers that they are visiting friends or faimily, but then change their story once in the UK where they claim asylum.

But this is now set to change following a landmark ruling by an English judge on Monday.

A 31-year-old Zimbabwean woman was jailed for six months after the judge ruled she had lied in order to obtain a visa, and was therefore, an illegal immigrant in the UK.

Mother-of-two Jean Mapuranga of Tewkesbury Road, Perry Barr, pleaded guilty to a charge under the Immigration Act.

Phil Bown, prosecuting, said Mapuranga went to the British Embassy in Harare last April with documents claiming she wanted to visit her cousin in the UK, staying for ten days.

He said this was a ruse and when she arrived with her two children she travelled to Birmingham to live with her husband, identified as an opposition politician in Zimbabwe - and got a job in a care home.

Her case blew up when she wanted to claim asylum.

Estimates of the correct number of Zimbabweans in the UK vary, but it is generally agreed that there are about half a million - most of whom are asylum seekers or refugees.
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