Fatou Gaye has been jailed for 18 months after admitting she falsely claimed to be from Ivory Coast while seeking asylum in the UK.
At Luton Crown Court, the 38-year-old admitted two offences of obtaining permission to remain in the country by deception.
The court heard Gaye had lived in Glasgow with her young son Arouna Gaye while pursuing refugee claims and legal appeals over several years.
Prosecutors said she arrived in the UK from Senegal in 2004 on a visitor visa before later claiming asylum on the basis she was from Ivory Coast.
The deception remained undiscovered for years while she pursued multiple appeals and judicial reviews to avoid deportation.
The case gained national attention after politicians, including John Mason and Christina McKelvie, publicly supported her case believing she was an asylum seeker from Ivory Coast.
The court heard taxpayers spent more than £100,000 on accommodation, benefits and legal aid connected to her asylum applications and appeals.
Her true nationality only emerged when she was deported to Ivory Coast in 2009 and authorities discovered she could not speak local languages or answer basic questions about the country.
She was returned to the UK and later charged.
Sentencing, Judge Richard Foster said Gaye had “dishonestly and cynically abused” the asylum system over a four-year period.
UK Border Agency regional director Phil Taylor said the case showed authorities were determined to prosecute those who attempted to abuse the asylum process.