UK immigration raid leads to ten arrests

The UK immigration officers raided a catering company in Perivale late Tuesday evening to check the UK work permit validity of the workers there.  Six men and four women were discovered to be in breach of their UK work permit and immigration conditions and are facing deportation from the country.  The catering company is also facing a massive fine from the UK immigration authorities of up to £230,000, if they cannot prove they followed the conditions of hiring overseas workers.

Gareth Redmond, director of UK Border Agency's West London and South East England Area said that this is just the tip of the iceberg, and that the UK immigration authorities would be cracking down on illegal workers in the West London region.

"As long as there are illegal jobs, the United Kingdom will be an attractive place for illegal immigrants. That's why we have to put a stop to rogue employers who don't play by the rules," Redmond said.

"The majority are law-abiding, but to tackle those who fail to carry out the necessary checks on identity documents, we've introduced fines of up to £10,000 per illegal worker.  In cases where employers are found to be employing illegal workers, we often find they are also undercutting the minimum wage and by-passing health and safety laws."

Employers are responsible for checking the UK work permit rights of all overseas workers before hiring them, and if the UK immigration authorities feel that they are not abiding by these rules, could potentially fine them up to £10,000 per illegal employee.

Employers who have been found to be breaching UK immigration laws are now also being named on the UK Border Agency website.

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The UK Visa Bureau is an independent consulting company specialising in UK immigration and visa services.