A 30-year old man from the Jaffna was arrested for using deception in his UK visit visa application. He was found to have previously applied under a different identity.

 
The visa applicant was referred by UK Visas & Immigration to the Fraud Investigations Bureau, the UK High Commission said in a statement. The suspect had previously been refused a UK visa when using the same name, but with a different date of birth and family details.

 
As well as receiving a visa refusal the applicant has been given a 10 year ban on travel to the UK and faces prosecution for his actions from the Sri Lankan authorities.

UK Visas and Immigration Operations Manager, Tony Williams, said: “We will not tolerate abuse of the UK’s Immigration rules. Where we see evidence of abuse, we will take action against those involved.

 
We strongly advise visa applicants to be open and honest in their applications. Each application is considered on its individual merits and a previous visa refusal doesn’t necessarily mean that the new visa will get refused. However in cases of deception or where  false documents are submitted we will always refuse the applicant and as in this case there could also be wider ramifications. .”

All visa applications are subject to extensive checks by trained forgery officers, and this deception was uncovered following these routine checks, it was reported.