Legal Advisers Help Migrants Pretend to Be Gay for Asylum, BBC Undercover Investigation Finds

Undercover Discovery Reveals Hidden Network

A covert network of legal professionals and consultants charges significant fees to assist migrants in fabricating their sexual orientation, according to a BBC investigation. The report highlights how individuals with expiring visas are provided with fabricated narratives and guided through the process of creating false documentation, such as letters, photographs, and medical reports.

These migrants then submit asylum applications, claiming they face persecution as LGBTQ+ individuals in their home countries of Pakistan or Bangladesh. The Home Office responded to the findings, stating:

“Anyone found trying to exploit the system will face the full force of the law, including removal from the UK.”

Asylum Process Under Scrutiny

The UK’s asylum system grants protection to those unable to return home due to threats of danger. However, the BBC’s findings suggest it is being manipulated by legal advisers who extract payments from migrants seeking to remain in the country. This group, often composed of individuals with expired student, work, or tourist visas, now accounts for 35% of all asylum applications, which surpassed 100,000 in 2025.

Community Centre Event Highlights Deception

During an undercover operation, reporters attended a gathering at a community centre in Beckton, east London, where over 175 people had gathered. Organized by Worcester LGBT, a group claiming to support gay and lesbian asylum seekers, the event attracted attendees from as far as South Wales, Birmingham, and Oxford. Despite the group’s claim of welcoming only genuine LGBTQ+ individuals, some participants openly admitted to the reporter that their identities were not authentic.

“Most of the people here are not gays,” said Fahar. Another attendee, Zeeshan, added:

“Nobody is a gay here. Not even 1% are gay. Not even 0.01% are gay.”

Behind the Scenes of the Scheme

The undercover reporter’s journey began in late February when he contacted Mazedul Hasan Shakil, a paralegal at Law & Justice Solicitors in Birmingham and London. Shakil also founded Worcester LGBT. Initially, he claimed the reporter needed to fear persecution to qualify for asylum, but shortly after, the conversation shifted to Urdu. A woman named Tanisa, who later identified as Tanisa Khan, an adviser for Worcester LGBT, became enthusiastic about guiding the reporter through a “gay case” application.

Tanisa emphasized that the process required effort, as the reporter would need to memorize a fabricated story for his interview. “At the moment there is only one route from where you can get a visa and it is open,” she said while seated on the edge of a bed during their first meeting. “It is the asylum visa…it is on human rights and it is called gay case or same sex. There is no hope for any other visa.”

The meeting took place at Tanisa’s home, not the law firm’s office. Over the course of 45 minutes, she outlined how the system could be navigated, revealing the intricacies of a method designed to exploit the asylum process. The investigation uncovered the sophistication of this approach, exposing a deliberate strategy to secure residency through deception.