I applied for a US visa last year through an agent. The agent stamped an Ethiopian visa in my passport, he said that would increase my chances of obtaining a US visa. How he got the visa stamp I don't know. I didn't go for any capturing or biometric. The Ethiopian visa he stamped was handwritten. The US denied me but they didn't give me a reason.
Now, I am applying for student visa to the UK, I have gotten a new passport to get rid of the visa record but the new passport bears the previous passport number. My question is one, will the UK go to the extent of checking the record in the previous passport since I am applying for a tier 4 student visa?
Two, I have been advised not to mention that I have applied for visa before. But my fear is, what if that Ethiopian visa actually exists and is valid, if I do not declare that I have applied for visa before and they find out that I have a visa in my previous passport, will this look like I'm trying to cover up something cause a refusal?
Third, if the US actually denied my visa due to a fake visa stamp, and they banned me, how do I find out they banned me and will the ban to the . US also affect my UK plans?