Home Office investigates firm linked to religious sect over immigration visas | Religion
The Home Office is investigating a company linked to a Cheshire-based religious sect over its use of immigrant visas.
The company under investigation is linked to the Ahmadiyya Religion of Peace and Light (AROPL), a sect that blends tenets of Islam with conspiracy theories about the Illuminati and aliens controlling US presidents. Followers believe that the leader of the sect, Abdullah Hashim, can heal the sick and destroy the moon. About 100 of his followers live in a former orphanage in Crewe, in north-west England.
The community moved to the United Kingdom in 2021 after moving their headquarters from Sweden. Immigration authorities there investigated various companies affiliated with the sect and issued deportation orders against dozens of its members.
Now, immigration authorities in the UK are investigating the matter A company linked to the cult due to its use of skilled worker visas to bring people into the country.
The investigation, approved by the Home Office, is understood to focus on the use of visas by AROPL Studios, a company founded in 2021 to produce social media and YouTube videos about the sect’s teachings.
Data released to the Guardian by the Home Office showed that AROPL Studios received 12 skilled worker visas between 2022 and 2025.
Skilled worker visas were introduced in 2020 and are designed to allow companies to recruit foreign workers with specialist skills for a specific role. Ministry of Internal Affairs in September 2025 announced was cracking down on sponsors found to be abusing the immigration system.
AROPL denied using illegal immigration enforcement. It said through lawyers that the immigration status of all its members and employees was legal. He added that they were not aware of any investigation.
Hashem, who made it a habit to wear a black beanie hat, gained a successful following on the internet. AROPL’s YouTube channel has reached more than 31 million views. Some of these set out his teachings, while others detail the group’s belief that Hashem performed miracles such as bringing a woman back from the dead, curing a follower’s arthritis, and sending angels flying across the sky.
Hashem has previously talked about the international nature of the UK-based group. In a video posted late last year, he said: “We have people here from Malaysia. We have people here from Azerbaijan. We have people here from Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt… We have people from almost every continent on Earth, right? And we have people here.” [people] “They come from about a hundred different countries, and they all live in peace, in harmony, and marry each other.”
The Home Office investigation is not the first the group has faced. The Guardian examined the decisions in several immigration court decisions in Sweden; where immigration officials found that three AROPL-linked companies were “rogue employers” and had recruited AROPL followers to allow them to reside in Sweden.
The Swedish immigration court issued 69 deportation orders for AROPL members. AROPL told the Guardian the group had already left the country and moved to the UK when the orders were given.
In his public statements, Hashem condemned the immigration court’s decisions as follows: racist and religious persecution.
AROPL’s lawyers said any suggestion that visas were improperly used to bring followers to the UK was false and there was paperwork to prove it.
He said it is a peaceful, open and transparent movement derived from Shia Islam and is recognized as a religion by many international organizations. Members of the group have reportedly faced persecution in some countries because of the sect’s interpretation of Islam, which allows alcohol consumption and women to avoid headscarves.
