Jahangir Restaurant Seeks Legal Advice Following Reform UK Work Visa Claims

St Andrews Indian Restaurant Jahangir Balti & Tandoori is seeking legal advice after Reform UK accused the business of exploiting the UK’s visa system, claiming it may have helped bring as many as 200 people into the country.

The award winning South Street restaurant, which has operated in St Andrews since 1998, was named in a series of social media posts by Reform UK home affairs spokesperson, Zia Yusuf. The posts, shared across Facebook, X, and Instagram have amassed over one million views. 

Jahangir has firmly rejected the allegations.

Yusuf claimed that Jahangir — registered under the company name Walham Ltd — received 42 Certificates of Sponsorship for Skilled Worker visas between 2023 and 2024. Using that figure and extrapolating an estimated number of dependents per sponsored worker, Yusuf suggested the restaurant could have been responsible for bringing around 200 people to the UK.

Reform UK has not yet publicly provided evidence substantiating their claims against the restaurant. 

Jahangir owner Zulfiqar Ali rejected all accusations, stating to The Courier that only four of his current employees are on worker permits. Ali added that Yusuf has “tarnished our reputation here, he’s tried to attack us for no reason.”

Writing on X, Yusuf said: “The business has been going for more than twelve years. But in 2023, they appear to have settled on a new business model.” His post also stated: “Between 2023 and 2024 they received forty-two Certificates of Sponsorship for ‘Skilled Worker’ visas.”

The Skilled Worker visa allows eligible overseas nationals to work in the UK for a Home Office-approved employer. Sponsoring workers and receiving or assigning Certificates of Sponsorship is legal and does not itself indicate wrongdoing.

Following widespread circulation of the story, Jahangir was targeted by a wave of negative online reviews. According to The Courier, Ali described many of these reviews as “baseless” and suggested that they had been posted by supporters of Reform UK who had never visited the restaurant. The Courier has since reported that a number of the recent negative reviews have been removed from Google. 

North East Fife Liberal Democrat MP Wendy Chamberlain called on Reform UK to provide evidence for its claims or apologise to the restaurant: “If Reform has evidence [...] they should present it,” she said, adding that otherwise the party “should apologise to Jahangir [sic] and remove Zia Yusuf’s post.”

Scottish First Minister John Swinney has also criticised Reform UK’s intervention, saying he was “horrified” to learn of the accusations directed at Jahangir. 

Speaking to The Courier, Swinney described the situation as “typical of Reform” and “totally and utterly unacceptable.” Swinney also accused the right-wing political party of “fuelling tension” within communities and claimed it was acting “in a fashion to deliberately stoke up racial tension.”

Reform UK has defended Yusuf’s comments, with a party spokesperson stating: “Zia Yusuf was right to highlight the deeply concerning fact that a single curry house sponsored 42 visas in just two years.”

Jahangir continues to reject the accusations and maintains that the business has acted lawfully. There has been no indication of a formal investigation or disciplinary action taken against the restaurant. 

Photo by Alden Arnold