Woman Accused of Taking Citizenship Test for 14 People

A woman who was apparently a master of disguise as well as a master of the knowledge required to pass the UK's citizenship test was arrested Monday for allegedly taking the test for at least 14 people. She allegedly used disguises and fake IDs to take the test at multiple centers around the country. Immigration enforcement authorities say they seized "several false documents and an array of wigs" from the woman's London home, the BBC reports. Authorities say she impersonated both women and men to take the Life in the UK test, which people have to pass to gain British citizenship or permanent residency.

The UK's Home Office says the test, which became compulsory in 2005, consists of 24 questions on a wide variety of subjects, "proving the applicant has sufficient knowledge of British values, history and society," NBC News reports. The test has been criticized for including obscure or irrelevant questions that many British people couldn't answer. Thom Brooks, professor of law and government at Durham Law School, compares it to a "bad pub quiz," reports the New York Times.

One question asks the height of the London Eye, a 443-foot ferris wheel in the capital. "What makes you British knowing that?" Brooks asks. He tells the Times that he's never heard of widespread fraud involving the test before, though he notes that testing locations are not "overly secure." Immigration enforcement inspector Philip Parr says a "complex investigation" ended the "dangerous scheme." He says investigators believe the woman's motive was financial gain. (More United Kingdom stories.)