ASYLUM SNEAKERS

THOUSANDS of illegal immigrants are sneaking into Britain posing as foreign language students.

They sign up for non-existent courses at non-existent colleges before vanishing to work illegally.

Some of the colleges - which arrange dodgy student visas at pounds 500 a time - only exist on paper or as shady front companies.

Other genuine schools accept that the students have no intention of turning up to lessons and will disappear into the black economy as soon as they arrive.

Traffickers are believed to have exploited loopholes in the law and smuggled tens of thousands of Eastern Europeans into Britain using this method. Police believe around 10,000 are now working as prostitutes.

Under Home Office rules foreigners are allowed to enter the country on a 12-month study visa - provided they can prove that they have been accepted on a college course with a Certificate of Enrolment.

They also have to prove that they can support themselves either with money in a bank account or a letter from a sponsor in Britain underwriting their living expenses.

Our investigation comes days after it was revealed that gay Labour MP Clive Betts helped his Brazilian rentboy lover Jose Gasparo obtain a student visa by putting pounds 4,000 in his bank account and paying pounds 50 to register at a genuine London college.

Sunday Mirror investigators posed as escort agency bosses who wanted to bring in 10 Russian prostitutes from Moscow.

We were offered by one bogus school:

-Illegally-obtained one-year visas and visa extensions.

-False bank statements and addresses.

-Fake attendance records, exam results and sponsorship letters.

One people trafficker called Alam Jalalov boasted he could fool the Home Office into granting visas using headed note paper, counterfeit bank statements and false exam results. Jalalov claimed to represent the Harvard's Learning Centre based in the heart of London's financial district in City Road.

He also said that he could get dodgy visas using two other accredited schools of English in West London and Surrey.

Sunday Mirror investigators were tipped off about the Russian's scam by an Eastern European prostitute he had helped to stay illegally in Britain.

Jalalov said that he had smuggled in 15 immigrants from all over the world.

He said: "That's what I have been doing from the beginning...15 people from different countries have successfully received their visas to the UK.

"Our school, Harvard's, is fully accredited. No problem. The price is pounds 500 for each escort coming over from Eastern Europe. We even do visa extensions. My fee for that is pounds 350.

"We will do everything for you. We will provide you with a letter about enrolment to a full-time English course, bank statements, an attendance letter...everything you need. We can do bank statements for any bank. It's so easy - you don't even have to attend our school."

A Russian-speaking Sunday Mirror investigator met Jalalov at Finsbury Park station in North London and, after explaining that he wanted to bring in 10 escorts, was shown a letter on headed note paper from Harvard's Learning Centre. Jalalov told him: "It's a ready- made letter from the school saying that you are a student and have paid pounds 1,589 for two years for an English Course. It says your attendance is 80 per cent. You go to the Home Office in East Croydon and they give you a visa. I know how it works. They know our schools. They are accredited. If it's 10 girls at the same time then I'll drop the price from pounds 350 to pounds 300 for a visa extension. We'll do all documents for 10 escorts through different schools. It won't look too suspicious. And we can guarantee your visas."

The address of Harvard's Learning Centre on the letter turned out to a business accommodation bureau at a company called Temples Limited which provides PO boxes and phone answering services.

There was no language school at the premises. Temples Ltd were unaware of Jalalov's illegal activities and forwarded our call to a man called Alex - who claimed that he was a Chinese take-away.

Sunday Mirror investigators also visited genuine language schools who run legitimate courses for students. Here, the course directors technically don't break the law, but turn a blind eye to students who work as escorts.

Under Home Office rules students must work up to 20 hours a week, but the language schools can't force them to attend, nor organise what they do outside of school hours.

At the Edgware Academy of Languages and Computer Science in London school director Berrak Unsal offered a discount on bulk visa applications. When told that the girls were coming over to work as escorts Unsal said: "As long as I don't know about it, it's fine."

At the upmarket campus in London's fashionable Covent Garden, one- year courses come with one-year student visas and are advertised at pounds 525 each. But Unsal offered a five per cent discount on group deals. She said: "If you bring in at least four together we will do it each for pounds 500."

We asked Unsal what happens if they miss school a lot or don't come at all. "Once they are here we will help them renew their visas," she said.

At another branch of the Edgware Academy in West London, a course administrator called Susan also offered to arrange visas for our escorts. "Pay us for the school courses and we give you the documents," she said. "Your girls need to give these to the British Embassies. They will be given visas, no problem."

Last night a Scotland Yard spokesman said: "We will investigate the cases highlighted by the Sunday Mirror and prosecute anyone involved in human trafficking."

A Home Office spokesman said: "This practise is illegal and we will investigate it as a matter of urgency. Anyone with evidence should contact the immigration service immediately. Forgery and illegal entry are serious criminal offences."

When confronted by the Sunday Mirror, Jalalov said: "You can't do anything. It's no problem." Unsal said: "I can't control what students do in their private lives. If they don't attend the course, the Home Office will not renew their visas."

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