Prosecution laments Vietnamese 'visa racket' as student admits to using other person's passport

A court has jailed a 26-year-old Vietnamese MCAST student who left her two-week-old baby in Vietnam to travel to Europe using another person’s passport.

Nguyen Thi Hanh was part of a large group of people who were arrested at the airport on September 2 in connection with what the police have described as a travel visa racket.

Magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit presided over the Court of Magistrates as a Court of Criminal Judicature as Inspector Karl Roberts charged Hanh with being in possession of and trying to use, a passport that had been issued to another person. She was also accused of making a false representation to the Principal Immigration Officer.

The slightly built defendant was clearly anxious as she stood in the dock and seemed to be attempting breathing exercises to calm herself down.

Lawyer Luke Valletta, representing the woman as legal aid counsel entered a guilty plea on her behalf.

Inspector Roberts told the court that such cases had become all too common, describing the visa-issuing situation as “almost a racket.”

The court agreed, noting that even though custodial sentences were being routinely handed out, “they keep on coming.”

Valletta told the court that the woman had only recently given birth to a daughter in Vietnam and argued for a suspended sentence, coupled with an immediate deportation order.

“There is a racket going on at the moment involving Vietnamese nationals,” the police inspector told the court. “They pay huge amounts, up to €18,500 to obtain a student visa to come to Malta, but they have no interest in learning.”

He told the court that it was “a well-known fact” that Malta is the easiest place to obtain a Schengen visa. Hanh had told the police that she had intended to travel onwards to Budapest, he explained, adding that she had left her newborn child in her mother’s care, back in Vietnam.

Magistrate Stafrace Zammit warned the defendant that if she were to confirm her guilty plea, she would be handed a prison sentence, after which she would be deported.

The admission of guilt was confirmed, nonetheless.

Noting her cooperation with the police and early guilty plea, the court jailed the woman for 6 months, the minimum punishment applicable in the circumstances.

Her lawyer gave notice of a possible appeal.