Sahar police recently arrested Sagar Shah, a 29-year-old civil engineer from Gujarat, for attempting to board a flight to New Zealand using a fraudulent visa. The arrest took place at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, after immigration officers became suspicious when Shah failed to provide a boarding pass for his connecting flight from Hong Kong to New Zealand.
Upon further investigation, authorities discovered several irregularities in his visa, which was later confirmed to be fake. Shah admitted that he had been previously rejected for a Canadian student visa in 2018 and had sought alternative methods to migrate abroad. Eventually, he chose New Zealand as his destination, resorting to fraudulent means to gain entry.
The case sheds light on the growing problem of visa fraud, driven by individuals desperate to seek better opportunities abroad, often resorting to illegal and dangerous options.
Russell A Stamets, a partner at Circle of Counsels in Delhi, commented on the situation, stating, “Unwarranted desperation to move abroad drives people to accept dangerous, illegal, and immoral options. They may end up with a criminal record, which will cause problems for them everywhere.”
Stamets further added that visa officers have wide discretion, and what constitutes a criminal record can vary from country to country. “In some cases, a criminal record need not be exactly what one might expect. Foreign legal systems often lack leniency for migrants unless they’re seeking asylum,” he said.
Soniya Putta, a partner at Solomon & Co law firm, emphasized the seriousness of the crime: “Forging a visa or attempting to travel on a forged visa is a serious offence, punishable under the laws of all countries.”
