Asylum seekers buying sick notes online to dodge Home Office interviews

Asylum seekers are buying sick notes online to dodge Home Office interviews about their claim, the Mail can reveal. The tactic is allegedly being used so claimants can delay asylum interviews for up to six months, buying them time to build their claim and continue working in the UK. An internal Home Office memo obtained by the Mail says: 'We have noticed the same type of GP "sick notes" being added to different files.' It adds that the notes are being bought for £44 from a website called Home2Lab, 'where no GP appointment is required, you can just provide a description of illness and it is approved on the same day'. The memo tells staff handling asylum claims to report any such notes that appear in their files. A Home Office source told the Mail that these sick notes are being used as 'time-buying devices' by claimants. Migrants clamber to board a taxi boat at the beach in Oye Plage near Calais in northern France last month 'They [asylum seekers] get a sick note and submit it one day before or even on the day of their asylum interview, so the interview doesn't go ahead and they face no penalty,' the source said. 'The interview won't be rescheduled for several months, so they have more time to work on their story or develop evidence.' The source added that sick notes are often submitted by people whose work visas are running out and have applied for asylum status so that they can remain in the UK. By postponing their asylum interviews, 'they can continue working', the source said. The insider said asylum applicants who are linked together because they are family are also 'highly likely to submit a sick note'. The source explained: 'Because they've been "linked" their interviews will have been booked on the same day, so they cannot learn from the others' interview. 'So, one of them will provide a sick note and the other interview will go ahead. Then the "sick" ones gets a heads up on the interview questions, which will be personal and about their alleged relationship.' It is not suggested that Home2Lab knowingly provided sick notes for these purposes. The Home Office declined to answer a Freedom of Information request asking how many asylum interviews had been postponed after claimants had submitted sick notes. But the source said it was 'very common', although it is not known how many cases involved Home2Lab. Other websites also offer online sick notes. The source explained that some claimants will submit sick notes 'two or three times before finally turning up for the interview'. They claimed one asylum seeker was able to postpone an interview because of a 'sore belly', while another was able to keep delaying hers for six months because she 'burnt her foot'. It is not suggested that these case involved Home2Lab. Asylum seekers are buying sick notes online from Home2Lab, allegedly to dodge Home Office interviews. The Mail was able to obtain one less than 24 hours after submitting an online assessment form and a 30-second video in which a reporter falsely claimed to have the flu The Mail was able to obtain a sick note from Home2Lab less than 24 hours after submitting their ID, an online assessment form and a 30-second video in which they falsely claimed to have the flu. The note, which diagnosed the reporter with a respiratory tract infection, was signed off by Dr Ahmed Said, who is a registered pharmacist, but not a registered GP. That is despite Home2Lab stating on its website that its medical letters are signed off by a UK-registered GP. In response, Home2Lab said 'certificates may also be issued by other registered healthcare professionals, including pharmacists'. It accepted that the wording on its website 'was inaccurate and has been corrected'. Another Mail reporter requested a sick note for 'stress and anxiety', although Home2Lab recommended a face-to-face GP appointment instead and did not sign it off. Home2Lab said this showed its 'process includes genuine safeguards and is not an automatic or rubber-stamping exercise'. A spokesman said the firm 'does not issue certificates for Home Office or immigration purposes'. He added: 'Our website expressly states these exclusions and asks customers not to order for these purposes. We have identified three certificates that were subsequently presented to the Home Office. 'In each case, the customer stated that the certificate was for work purposes, supplied employer details, and provided video assessment material consistent with a work-related purpose. We have no record of any customer disclosing an immigration purpose at the time of application.' A Home Office spokesman said: 'In line with our published policy, an asylum interview will never be delayed due to illness or a medical condition without sufficient medical evidence from a qualified professional.'