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司法 · 人才签证证据

人才签证,人才现供:两起签证撤销案与一项 £98,000 的艺术交易

BBC 调查发现存在虚假评论后,内政部正在撤销两名摄影师的签证。另有一项 £98,000 的提议,声称可以为申请人伪造艺术生涯。

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译自英文原文。

这类签证面向具有非凡才华或潜力的人。推销时的说法是,申请人是不是艺术家并不重要:艺术品可以包含在价格内。这一矛盾正是 BBC 调查英国全球人才签证途径中伪造资历问题的核心;而英国政府内政部的回应如今威胁到两名男子在英国居住的许可。⁠1

内政部正在撤销发给两名尼日利亚男子 Silva Ndifon 和 Adanu Emmanuel Okoko 的签证,因为两人自称是美术摄影师,而内政部认为他们是通过欺骗获得签证的。另据内政部称,提出为一名卧底记者打造艺术家身份的公司此前已受到调查。现有证据不能证明该公司为这两人的申请提供了材料。⁠1⁠2

这些区别很重要。BBC 对签证的描述既称其正在被撤销,也称其已被撤销,但未提供生效日期。已确认的进展是撤销程序,而非已证明有人被驱逐出境或被判刑。两名男子的回应,以及他们是否对撤销提出挑战、结果如何,此处均未得到证实。⁠1⁠2

评论家的名字,别人的文字

这两起签证案例因报纸评论而受到关注;这些评论看起来似乎赋予了两名男子独立的艺术界地位。尼日利亚评论家 Molara Wood 发现,《尼日利亚论坛报》网站上有几篇赞扬两人作品的文章,署着她的名字。文章并非她所写。她提醒编辑后,文章被删除。⁠1

《尼日利亚论坛报》告诉 BBC,报社已查明一名未经授权发布这些文章的员工。据报社称,该员工承认文章是由组织外的人提供,但否认收过钱。这解释了文章如何登上网站,却不能证明是谁委托撰写评论,也不能证明是否有人付钱。⁠1

我不希望别人把这种文字和我联系起来。

Molara Wood 1

Wood 还称这些图片“根本不值得评论”,并表示其他评论家也遭遇过同样的姓名滥用。目前尚未确认受影响的评论家、文章或签证申请的总数。她的投诉揭示了移民管控之外的直接伤害:一个人的专业声誉被用来为其本人既未审阅也未认可的作品背书。⁠1

报纸评论之所以有分量,是因为它看起来出自艺术家之外的独立人士之手。把一位受人尊敬的评论家的名字放在伪造的赞扬文章上,这种表象就成了被出售的产品。这种滥用不只是拙劣的评论,而是让虚构的推荐看起来像外部评价。

明码出售的艺术生涯

BBC 的另一项卧底报道描述了更复杂的提议。Shilong Guan 自称 Peter,他告诉一名冒充客户、会说普通话的记者,即使她没有艺术背景,也可以作为一名具有“非凡潜力”的艺术家申请。他自称来自 iCareer Consultancy UK,这是一家位于金丝雀码头、提供职业指导和求职服务的企业。⁠1

他在公开宣传中毫不含糊。Guan 在 2026 年 2 月于小红书发布的一则帖子中写道:“你实际上是不是艺术家并不重要……”他宣传一项“全包”服务,并承诺“保证获批”,还解释说服务包含艺术品。其他宣传则针对富裕的中国申请人,将艺术途径描述为无需会说英语即可定居的方式。这些是销售宣传,并不能证明国籍或语言能力表明申请人存在欺骗行为。⁠1

在卧底交流中,Guan 提供最多 15 件由中国艺术家创作的作品,并称在那里委托创作比在英国便宜。选项从绘画和插画到雕塑、装置艺术、数字艺术和摄影不等。他还提出安排展览、发布评论客户所谓作品的媒体报道,以及提供推荐信。部分信息会被倒填日期,让她的艺术生涯显得更长。⁠1

替代申请人的做法甚至可能涉及她本人。记者问起不会英语如何完成工作经验时,Guan 称同事可以代劳,并冒充她出席画廊开幕活动,替她拓展人脉。他声称,签证官“不会看照片”。这是他对自己能够利用的一项漏洞所作的说法,并非对每次官方审查情况的独立核实。⁠1

报价为 880,000 元,约合 £98,000,分三期支付;若以英镑支付,还需另付 20% 增值税。从北京将拟提供的艺术品运到伦敦,另报价 10,000 元,约合 £1,120。Guan 预计至少需要两年准备,申请材料可在 2028 年底或 2029 年初就绪。这是他为构建资历安排的时间表,并非政府的处理时限。报道证实有人提出了这项交易,但不能证明记者最终收到了作品集。⁠1

Guan 还提出以另付 250,000 元、约合 £28,000 的方式,帮助她赢得《福布斯中国》未来艺术家奖,并承诺如果她未获奖就退款。《福布斯》确认该奖项真实存在,且 iCareer 的姊妹公司 ADArt 是赞助方。该刊表示,评审由其中国编辑团队和专业评委按照《福布斯》全球标准进行。赞助并不能证明赞助方控制了结果;Guan 的承诺也不能证明该奖项可以绕过签证背书要求。⁠1

Guan 声称至少有四名客户在 2026 年获得签证,称有十人在申请,并表示购买全套服务的人无一被拒。BBC 无法核实这些说法。这些说法并不能证明有多少欺诈申请成功。交流期间发来的一份合同承诺提供“必要的背书材料”;Guan 还承诺,如果 iCareer 提供的材料导致申请失败,就会退款。⁠1

审阅调查结果的移民律师 Harjap Singh Bhangal 称这项拟议安排是“精心策划的欺诈”,并称该文件是“一份违法合同”。这些是他的法律判断,并非法院判决。但其中的根本区别很明确:支持一名艺术家的事业,与伪造他人的作品和经历、冒充申请人本人所有,性质不同。⁠1

是谁授权了这项提议,仍无定论

有确凿证据可以用来衡量这项“未经授权”说法,但这些证据并不能厘清责任归属。Guan 提供了一份 iCareer 宣传册,以及一份印有该公司名称和企业联系电子邮件地址的合同。会面地点是金丝雀码头的一栋大楼,iCareer 和 ADArt Global Ltd 均在此办公,且两家公司由同一所有者持有。ADArt 已在政府监管机构登记,可提供移民建议。⁠1

在 BBC 联系 iCareer 前,Guan 一直列在该公司网站和自己的领英资料中;iCareer 称这是疏忽。该公司表示,此前并不知道 Guan 和另一名员工发布的宣传帖子,并将进行调查。公司称 ADArt 的工作包括签约艺术家、协助策划展览以及发展专业关系。Guan 是否得到公司授权行事仍无定论——但他是否使用了公司的身份和材料,并无疑问。⁠1

全球人才签证途径于 2020 年开放,获批申请人可以携家属同行,并有可能在三年或五年后取得永久居留资格。大多数申请人需要获得专业机构背书;符合条件的重大奖项则提供另一条途径。英格兰艺术委员会负责评估艺术与文化类申请。申请人不会接受面试,因此文件真实性尤为重要,但这并不能证明面试就能揭穿所有伪造文件。⁠1⁠8

BBC 报道称,2025 年约有 6,600 份签证获批,但这里没有说明是否包括家属签证。另据英格兰艺术委员会,委员会收到近 3,500 份背书申请,批准的略低于一半。艺术与文化类申请在 2023 至 2025 年间几乎翻倍。背书申请和签证获批衡量的是不同阶段;申请增长和拒签率都无法显示欺诈的普遍程度。⁠1

英格兰艺术委员会表示,会调查涉嫌误导或欺诈的证据。内政部称调查结果“极其严重”,表示该签证途径已在接受审查,并承诺采取行动打击滥用。目前尚未确认任何具体的新保障措施,也未就公司责任得出结论。⁠1

眼下的问题十分具体:是谁委托撰写虚假评论?是谁授权了这项卧底交易?现有调查之后会采取什么行动?两起签证案例和一项拟议的服务套餐足以引发审视,但不足以将每位寻求入境的艺术家都视为可疑对象。要做的是区分真正的成就与花钱买来的表象,并保护那些独立声音——正是这些人的名声,可能让表象显得可信。

来源13

在此处引用的来源中,Hiascope最先发布,比本报道播出早6小时。 随后还有8家媒体发布。

2篇早期文章作为背景资料参阅。2家媒体未注明日期:artscouncil.org.ukVisa Draft Wizard

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来自 13 家媒体的 17 个来源· 引用最多的优先

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  1. The Home Office is taking away two men's Global Talent visas. It believes Silva Ndifon and Adanu Emmanuel Okoko obtained them through deception. Both Nigerian men presented themselves as fine-art photographers.
  2. Reviews praising their work appeared under a respected critic's name, although she hadn't written them. How did those credentials reach a newspaper, and who authorised a separate offer to manufacture an artistic career?
  3. Molara Wood discovered the reviews under her byline. Her professional reputation had been attached to criticism she hadn't produced. She said, “It is writing that I would not want associated with me.” She also dismissed the quality of the images.
  4. The newspaper removed the articles after Wood alerted its editors. It said a staff member had posted them without authorisation. That employee admitted someone outside the organisation had supplied them, but denied being paid. Wood said other critics had also had their names misused.
  5. A consultant offered to supply artwork made in China for a woman posing as a client. Shilong Guan, who used the name Peter, made his pitch in a Canary Wharf building and proposed shipping the works from Beijing to London.
  6. Guan represented himself as being from iCareer Consultancy UK, a careers-coaching and job-search business founded in 2018. ADArt, an immigration-advice business registered with the government regulator, shares its owner and building. Guan described ADArt as another division of the group. The Home Office says the company behind the offer was already under investigation.
  7. Guan said a client with no art background could apply as an artist showing “exceptional promise”. He offered to commission the portfolio, arrange exhibitions and reviews, and obtain recommendation letters. Some information would be backdated to lengthen the apparent artistic career.
  8. His proposed portfolio contained up to 15 works, spanning painting, illustration, sculpture, installation, digital art and photography. He said producing them in China was cheaper. In a February 2026 post on Xiaohonshu, he advertised guaranteed approval and said being an artist didn't matter because the service included the artworks.
  9. Guan even offered someone to stand in for the client. When she asked how she'd manage work experience without English, he said a colleague could do it and impersonate her at gallery openings. He claimed visa officials “don't look at photographs”.
  10. His promotions targeted wealthy Chinese applicants and pitched the arts route as a way to settle without speaking English. The proposed substitution went beyond networking support. Someone else would make the artworks and could appear as the applicant while building her professional credentials.
  11. Subscribe to this channel to follow the visa investigation and what officials do next.
  12. Guan priced the package at about £98,000, with another 20% VAT if paid in sterling. He separately quoted about £28,000 for an award-related service and about £1,120 to ship the artwork. Those conditions change what a customer would pay.
  13. The original package quote was 880,000 yuan, payable in three stages. The award service was 250,000 yuan, and postage was 10,000 yuan. Guan projected at least two years of preparation, with the application ready in late 2028 or early 2029. That was his schedule for building the application.
  14. Guan said a Forbes China Future Artists Award would strengthen the application, and promised a refund if the client didn't win. Forbes confirmed ADArt's sponsorship. It said its China editorial team and professional judges handle the judging under its global standards.
  15. Guan also claimed at least four clients had obtained visas in 2026, with ten people applying. Those claims haven't been verified. He claimed nobody buying the full package had been refused, and promised a refund if an application failed because of material supplied by iCareer. His contract promised “necessary endorsement materials”.
  16. Immigration lawyer Harjap Singh Bhangal called the proposed arrangement a “sophisticated fraud”. He described the document as “a contract to break the law”, intended to convince officials and an endorsing body that the applicant was a genuine artist.
  17. Guan denied being willing to help people pretend to be artists or have artwork made for them. He said, “We are not doing anything wrong or illegal, all of our artists are real artists.” iCareer, through lawyers, strongly denied offering any visa services and said Guan's meeting was unauthorised.
  18. Guan provided an iCareer brochure and a contract bearing its name and corporate email address. The meeting happened in the building it occupies with ADArt. But iCareer says his employment ended in early October, shortly before the undercover exchanges.
  19. Guan remained listed on iCareer's website and his LinkedIn profile until the company was contacted. iCareer called that an oversight. It said it hadn't known about his and another employee's promotional posts and would investigate. It described ADArt's work as signing artists, curating exhibitions and developing professional relationships.
  20. About 6,600 Global Talent visas were granted in 2025. The route opened in 2020 for exceptional or promising talent, including scientists, researchers and creative artists. Successful applicants can bring their families and potentially qualify for permanent residence after three or five years.
  21. The Conservatives introduced the route, and the Labour government has championed it while tightening other immigration rules. Most applicants need endorsement from the relevant professional body, though qualifying major awards can provide another route. For arts and culture, Arts Council England assesses the applications. Applicants aren't interviewed, so documentary authenticity carries particular weight.
  22. Arts Council England received nearly 3,500 endorsement applications in 2025 and approved just under half. Arts and culture applications nearly doubled between 2023 and 2025. These endorsement figures measure a different stage from visa grants, and don't reveal how widespread deception is.
  23. An Indian woman seeking a technology-route visa said a company fabricated evidence for her application. She described a made-up mentoring award and material falsely presenting her as an event speaker. Her application was rejected.
  24. The newspaper identified how the reviews reached its website through an employee and an outside supplier. Who commissioned them, and whether Guan acted with company authority, remain unresolved. The two men's visa cases and the company's offer are separate strands of the investigation.
  25. Arts Council England says it investigates evidence suspected of being misleading or fraudulent. The Home Office called the findings “extremely serious” and said it won't tolerate cheating the immigration system. The Global Talent route was already under review, and the department says the home secretary will act to stop abuse.

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