Visa Consultant Booked for Duping Surat Residents on Pretext of EU Work Permits

Vadodara police have registered a case against a visa consultant accused of cheating five Surat residents of ₹22.81 lakh under the false promise of securing work permit visas for European countries.

The FIR was lodged at Akota police station based on a complaint by Darshil Niteshkumar Shah, a resident of Rander Asopalav Society in Surat. Shah, along with his friends Chirag Revdiwala and Kaushik Chauhan, alleged they were duped by Naveen Gopalbhai Khandelwal of Patel Colony, Akota, and his associates.

According to the complaint, the trio had approached Align Overseas, a consultancy in Vadodara, where they were introduced to Prashant Shah, owner of Pacific Consultancy. They were assured that European work permits would cost ₹6.5 lakh each, with an advance of ₹1.5 lakh.

Initially promised visas for Lithuania, they were later told the destination had shifted to the Czech Republic, then Singapore, and finally Fiji. The friends paid ₹18.4 lakh in total. While they managed to travel to Singapore on student visas, they were deported due to incomplete documentation. A Fiji visa was never processed. Despite partial refunds, they are still owed ₹12.52 lakh.

The complaint further alleges that Khandelwal also duped Surat-based brothers Mitesh and Chirag Mehra of ₹10.29 lakh in a similar scheme. A separate case has been filed in connection with their grievance.

Rising Trend of Visa Fraud in Gujarat

This case adds to a growing list of visa frauds across Gujarat in 2025:

• In February, a Porbandar resident lost ₹19.80 lakh over a fake UK work visa.
• In March, an Ahmedabad consultancy was cheated of ₹1.23 crore by a Noida firm on false promises of New Zealand and Australia permits.
• A Maninagar resident reported being swindled of ₹45 lakh over Canadian work visa assurances.
• Most recently, Gujarat ATS busted a fake Luxembourg visa racket, arresting four suspects and seizing forged documents and ₹37 lakh in payments.

Authorities have now formed dedicated police units to crack down on bogus consultancies in hotspots such as Ahmedabad, Mehsana, Surat and Anand.