30 October 2002: Letter from James Cameron, British consul in Bucharest to an immigration officer at Heathrow Airport:

Mr Cameron says clearance officers in Bucharest were "shocked and appalled" that the Home Office approved an application under the European Community Association Agreement (ECAA) - a migration scheme for prospective business people from some countries outside the EU.

Such judgements are a continual problem, he says, with many applicants having a past of bad immigration histories or suspect relationships.

"As if this was not enough, most of our ECAA applicants have paid �1500 - �2000 to a UK lawyer who 'guarantees' them a visa at the end of the application process.

"The applicants rarely know what is in their business plan, cannot speak English, and have absolutely no knowledge or experience in the type of skills needed for respective businesses.

"We have to date a medical pensioner who is a self-employed electrician in the UK (he lost his fingers in an electrical accident); a one-legged roof tiler; a bathroom tiler who said he will travel to London with his tiles and tools by Underground; and a number of builders and electricians who know nothing about bricks, mortar or electrical details.

"Unfortunately against our strongest recommendations, BCU [the Home Office Business Case Unit] continues to issue ECAA applicants such as these."

5 November 2002: Foreign Office official John Ramsden to Home Office official Chris Mace:

Mr Ramsden writes after returning from talks with entry clearance officers in Bulgarian capital Sofia.

He says: "They showed me box-fulls of applications to settle in the UK under the ECAA scheme.

"It is clear from what they told me that this has developed into an organised scam that completely undermines our entry control procedures - and indeed makes a bit of a nonsense of having a visa regime...

"It was often clear that applicants had no idea about the trade they were supposed to be setting up in the UK.

"Post have to write long referral letters pointing out the flaws in the cases submitted to them. But the BCU [ie the Home Office] only rarely refuses applications.

"Even those with a previous immigration history, eg people caught submitting forged documents in the past have been accepted under the scheme...

"It is demoralising for our post to have to devote a great deal of work to servicing a scam which makes them look ridiculous."

19 August 2003: Letter from Diana Cireap, visa assistant at the British Embassy in Bucharest:

Ms Cireap writes about an ECAA application, attaching the applicant's business plan.

"Please note that we telephoned his company and they told us that they have never heard of him and he has never worked for them."

In a letter on 14 February 2004, an ECAA official asks for the embassy to issue an entry clearance for the same application.