Matthew Chellam, 53, was paid “handsomely” for his services in making residency applications for people who lacked the right to stay in the UK.

Chellam qualified in India before doing so in England and Wales. He was found to have “spun a veritable web of lies and deceits” in submissions made for his clients to the Home Office.

In 2016 he was convicted of various offences, among them assisting unlawful immigration and seeking leave to remain in the UK by deception. At Snaresbrook Crown Court he was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment.

He has now been struck off after a tribunal ruled that his actions caused “tremendous harm to the reputation of the legal profession”.

The case was held in absentia as Chellam had fled to India. His address is unknown.

The tribunal highlighted the remarks of the sentencing judge, who said: “Your business, your practice, was to provide clients with a template application, a package of false or fictitious documentary evidence and above all, and this must be stressed, the professional assurance to the Home Office that comes with applications submitted by solicitors and legal representatives.”

The tribunal said there had been “no credible evidence of any insight, remorse or regret at any stage” from Chellam since his conviction.