Fake offers prey on those seeking to immigrate with European passports and residency

Dealers with companies specializing in immigration services revealed that they were deceived with fake offers that included obtaining European passports in a guaranteed manner in exchange for attractive prices. After paying the required fees, they discovered that it was merely a means of seizing their money in devious ways, which prompted them to resort to the judiciary in order to recover it.

The state courts recorded several lawsuits filed by traders against a number of companies for deceiving them with fake offers, seizing their money, taking advantage of loopholes in contracts, or locking up money in the balances of those companies for long periods extending up to two years.

In detail, M.A., of Arab nationality, said that he, like many others, is considering obtaining the citizenship or passport of a country that allows him to travel without restrictions to Europe and the United States, given that he suffers a lot to obtain a visa, as it takes a long time to obtain an appointment.

He added that he saw an advertisement on one of the social media platforms about an opportunity to obtain a European passport, so he expressed his interest and received a phone call from an employee of the company that published the advertisement, and the latter insisted on the need to meet him at the company’s headquarters, after he was tempted by the fact that it was an opportunity that would not be repeated, as he would obtain the passport for only 40 thousand euros.

He admitted that he was excited at first, but he felt a little anxious because the offer was too good to be true. He asked the employee if he could meet him somewhere else, but the latter told him that company policies required him to conduct the interview inside its headquarters.

He continued that he actually went there, and was impressed by the luxury of the headquarters, and the large number of employees, so he sat with an open mind with the employee and listened to the offer, which was a passport granted by one country to what he called “the category of exceptional immigrants,” and he assured him that he could obtain subsequent passports for his family members.

He explained that he confronted the employee with the results of his search for this type of visa, and that that country does not provide basically any opportunities to obtain citizenship or a passport, and that simply obtaining permanent residency there costs many times the required amount, and he was surprised by an unexpected response, which is that the entire process depends on the strength of companies’ relationships with people in that country who have shares in granting citizenship to certain categories of immigrants.

He continued that he left the meeting and conducted a search for the name of the company and its owner, and it turned out that there were dozens of complaints from other customers who reported that they had been subjected to a type of fraud and had lost a lot of money that they had paid in exchange for similar transactions, which began with tempting offers and ended with ignoring, denial, and evasion of paying the money.

(A.M. – of the nationality of an Arab country) stated that she concluded an agreement with a company under which she obtained a work visa in a foreign country, in exchange for only 50 thousand dirhams, of which she paid 26 thousand and 700 dirhams.

She added that the company asked her to pass the IELTS English language assessment exam as a condition for applying, so she passed it with an acceptable grade, and submitted the required certificate among the necessary documents. However, the company breached its obligations and did not provide her with a real job offer during the agreed-upon period and sent her a fictitious employment contract for the position of (storekeeper). It also asked her to pay the fees for renewing the employment contract for a year, but she refused and asked to return the amount she had paid. I paid it and the company refused to do so.

She indicated that she resorted to the civil judiciary to obtain her rights from that company, after the latter tried to hold it responsible for not obtaining the required job opportunities, which forced the officials of this company to make a settlement with it so that it would not escalate the matter.

In turn, MBA resorted to the civil judiciary, demanding that a company specializing in immigration services return the amount of 27 thousand dirhams to him, after it reneged on its promises to help him travel through one of the programs. He pointed out that the employee who met him from them assured him that the opportunity was guaranteed, but he found nothing but a mirage in the end, and discovered that that company had not renewed its license so that it could implement the agreement concluded between them.

He explained that the company, as usual, according to his conversation with other clients who faced the same problem with it, was unable to do so because his application for immigration was rejected by the competent authority, due to his not obtaining the required linguistic degree, or the availability of scientific and practical experiences that would qualify him for that, stressing that it was fully aware of his experiences and certificates before submitting the application to him, and paved the way for him with roses before obtaining the required fees from him, and then denied it. him later.

After examining the case by the Civil Court in Dubai and assigning an expert to examine the papers, it ruled to the client and obligated the company to return the money it had taken from him, because he had been subjected to a kind of deception.

In another lawsuit, a person of Arab nationality went to a company specialized in immigration procedures, with the aim of obtaining a work visa in a foreign country, and it was agreed between the two parties to pay a certain sum of money, in exchange for completing the transaction within six months, but it did not adhere to its duty and tried to hold him responsible for not submitting a linguistic proficiency report (IELTS certificate), which led him to sue it before the Dubai courts.

The man said in his lawsuit that he paid 18,000 dirhams in advance for the transaction, but the company breached its obligations after the agreed-upon period had passed, so he asked it to return the amount he paid, but it informed him via email that he was not eligible to recover the money due to not submitting the certificate, even though it was not mentioned in the terms of the service contract.

After examining the case, the court clarified in the merits of its ruling that it had established that the plaintiff was committed to his contractual duty, while the defendant had breached that, after he discovered that his request had been rejected due to not submitting an IELTS certificate, even though this was not mentioned in the terms of the service contract, which reflects a negligence on her part in light of her specialization in immigration services, and the court ruled that she was obligated to pay the amount to the plaintiff.

As for D.B.K., he had another bad experience with one of the companies, which consisted of receiving a promise to help him obtain a residence visa for a European country, in exchange for only 18 thousand dirhams. He paid the required amount and handed over his passport on the specified date for the visa to be affixed to him.

He stated in a legal memorandum regarding a lawsuit he filed before the civil court that he contacted the embassy of this country to verify the visa because he was not confident about it, and he was shocked by a response from the embassy that the visa was forged, which prompted him to review the company and demand a refund of his money, so he filed a lawsuit against it. The court was fair to him by obliging the company to return his money.

The previous cases are not different from the incident that happened to an Arab person who was looking for a passport that would provide him with the privilege of entering several countries in Europe and the world, without the need to obtain an entry visa for those countries. One of his friends directed him to an Arab person who claimed to be an agent in the Middle East region for one of the countries, and that he had a company specialized in obtaining documents for that country, and he met him in an office that he had prepared specifically for this purpose.

That person showed him a certificate written in English falsely attributed to that country stating that he was its representative in the region. He also showed him pictures of passports that he claimed he had obtained for other people residing in the country, which prompted the victim to believe him.

To increase confidence in himself, the fraudulent manager signed a contract with the victim stipulating that he would obtain a passport for him in exchange for 348,650 dirhams, and later handed him a passport in his name attributed to that island, in addition to an identity card, a bank investment certificate, a nationality certificate, and a driver’s license. However, when he applied to the National Authority for Immigration and Citizenship to transfer his residency from his expired passport to that country, he discovered that all of these documents were The case was forged, including a passport. He reported the incident, and that person was arrested with another accused. They were referred to the Public Prosecution and then to the Misdemeanor Court, which punished them with six months’ imprisonment and a fine. The victim also resorted to the civil court, which ruled for him and obliged them to return the amount seized.

In turn, the arbitrator and legal advisor, Muhammad Najib, said that the problem in such disputes is that many immigration agents and residence services give the impression to their clients that their services are guaranteed, and they will definitely obtain citizenship or residency in the targeted countries, which reduces the client’s focus on scrutinizing the terms of the contract, because he received verbal promises that blinded him to that.

He added that the language these agents use before completing the transaction and collecting money from customers differs from the way they treat them afterward, and they use devious methods to lure those dreaming of immigrating or residing in Europe, Canada, and other more attractive countries.

He pointed out that companies always create pretexts to reject the client’s request by the target country, either by not passing the language test, or by his lack of professional competence, all of which are basic conditions that represent obstacles that must be overcome, contrary to what the agent portrays to the person wishing to travel before executing the transaction.

He explained that this dispute opens the door to the nature of the relationship between the client and the immigration company. Is it a commitment to achieving the result of a “travel guarantee” or just a commitment to exert care “providing consultations and implementing the required procedures” without guaranteeing the result?

He added that in most cases, courts tend to consider it an obligation to exercise due diligence, because immigration conditions are subject to the laws of other countries and destinations that the company does not have control over, such as embassies or language tests.

Najeeb said that clients sometimes confuse what is civil and what is criminal in these transactions, and they accuse companies of fraud, but the reality is that the civil courts are concerned with examining contracts and financial responsibilities, unless the act is accompanied by criminal behavior such as forging a visa, application, report, or passport, in which case the prosecution initiates a criminal case.

He stressed that there are several companies that are committed to transparency with their customers, are keen to explain the situation clearly, and are highly trusted by their customers, but there is no doubt that these practices require strict oversight. Because many people sacrifice their savings in exchange for a dream that some agents portray as easy to achieve, unlike reality, so everyone must realize that all companies, regardless of their size, do not have a guarantee that the transaction will be successful, and that citizenship or residency will be granted. Rather, their mission is limited to facilitating the procedures.

He advised all those wishing to travel to carefully review the contracts and verify the company’s obligations, especially with regard to refunding the money paid or a percentage of it, if the transaction is not crowned with success, especially if the error or negligence was on the part of the agent.

• The courts were fair to victims who wasted their savings on a wish that was not fulfilled.

• “Arabi” gets an offer for a European passport for only 40,000 euros… and is surprised by dozens of complaints from other customers who were defrauded by the same company.