An immigration company facilitating foreign passports is under scrutiny for allegedly scamming people with expired passports.
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Covered from head to toe, the principal figure in this series of events is a woman named Lai (賴), the head of Chang Rong International Immigration.
The charges against her and her daughter include the commission of crimes such as the forgery of special documents. Following an investigation, the responsible parties were released on bail, and restrictions were imposed on their travel.
The investigation revealed that the company operated between 2018 and 2020, relying on intermediaries to process passports. Parents seeking assistance to enroll their children in foreign schools engaged the services of this company, only to discover that the passports obtained were already expired.
The company's website boasted services for obtaining a "second-country passport," with Guinea-Bissau being the flagship offering. The company primarily targeted individuals applying to foreign schools in Europe, the United States, Canada, and other countries.
The allure of "legally owning nationality" was accompanied by a service fee of approximately NT$490,000 (US$15,900). However, the reality was that obtaining a Guinea-Bissau passport required applicants to legally reside in the country for five years.
The company had previously promoted the idea that obtaining a passport not only allowed children to attend foreign schools but also facilitated overseas property acquisition and tax avoidance. Victims, who invested heavily in hopes of securing educational opportunities for their children, were left empty-handed.
According to an immigration expert, these passports, particularly from small European countries or Southeast Asia, could grant access to foreign schools based on expatriate status rather than nationality.
In a shocking turn of events, unscrupulous operators capitalizing on the dreams of parents for their children's education have left families with significant financial losses and dashed hopes.