YouTube videos advising potential migrants on how to use an uncommon visa scheme to bring their family to Britain have been viewed tens of thousands of times.
Content creators on YouTube have been offering advice on how to enter the country using the charity visa route, which allows people to volunteer abroad in the UK for up to a year.
A series of videos on the platform show how visas can create “leverage” to help bring people into the country, according to The Times.
In one case, a YouTuber reportedly posted a clip explaining that churches in the UK are charity organisations and “most of them have the license to sponsor you on a charity visa”.
One of the clips has been viewed 23,000 times.
In another case, the YouTuber also reportedly explained that while charity workers cannot have a formal salary, they can receive money through stipends or have their transport covered.
He adds: “They can provide you free accommodation, give you stipends for feeding and all that but it will not be classed as a salary.”
In another video, a YouTuber with 180,000 subscribers interviews a woman who used the charity visa route to move her family to the UK.
She explains while the charity visa does not allow paid employment, there are other ways to make money and work towards permanent settlement in the UK, including a stipend for food and transport.
She also explains that some charities may provide people with accommodation.
The woman explains: “Luckily for me as a volunteer working in the nursery, I was being paid as a volunteer.
“You still get paid as a volunteer, so I still get paid somehow. My husband can do any type of work … He works anywhere and as many hours as possible.”
The YouTuber told The Times “at no point did the video offer immigration advice” and said she does not provide similar advice on her platform.
She added: “I clearly stated in the video that it was not immigration advice and that viewers should seek proper guidance from qualified professionals or official sources.”
An analysis by The Times found that the number of people using the visa route is rising.
In 2024, there were 1,983 applicants and 80 per cent were approved. Last year, there were 2,775 applications, of which 62 per cent were successful.
The Home Office does not hold the data for the number of charity visa applicants who bring family members.
Dependants of charity visa applicants are processed under a separate visa route, along with the family members of applicants for other visa types.
In total, this route received 3,442 applications for dependants, of which 2,574 were issued.
Immigration lawyers have also posted videos on YouTube and TikTok teaching asylum seekers how to submit asylum applications that “almost always win” by claiming they have converted religion.
One user on TikTok, who describes herself as a UK-based immigration lawyer, reportedly told followers one of the most reliable methods of claiming asylum was to submit a claim on the basis that “you converted from Islam to another religion”.
There is no suggestion the YouTuber is coaching applicants to lie or any other wrongdoing.
YouTubers have also advised that it is much cheaper to use the charity visa route, in which applicants must pay a fee of £319 plus a healthcare surcharge that is usually £1,035 a year.
Applicants also have to prove they have at least £1,270 in savings.
A Home Office spokesman said: “Under our Plan for Change, our upcoming immigration white paper will set out a comprehensive plan to restore order to our broken immigration system, which includes cracking down on those who look to exploit our visa routes.
“We keep our visa and asylum systems under constant review to ensure they are not open to exploitation and where we detect trends which may undermine our immigration rules, we will not hesitate to take action.”
