Immigration, if unchecked, in any form is dicey now a days keeping in mind the fanatic activities going around the world. Apart from just the extremist activities there are various checks that the immigration authorities ought to undertake. The UK Border Agency has been widely criticised for failing to stop illegal immigrants who pose as students. Reacting to the situation, the UK Border Agency has taken various methods following their critique and has responded to the allegations for such a failure.
In response to the same allegations, Head of the Points Based System, Jeremy Oppenheim said, “The points-based system means that only those colleges and schools who provide quality education and take responsibility for their students will be licensed to bring in foreign students. Schools and colleges are inspected by accreditation bodies and the UK Border Agency to ensure they are genuine. Before we tightened controls, around 4,000 UK institutions were bringing in international students; this currently stands at around 2,000. Anyone coming into the UK must satisfy the Border Force officer that they meet the immigration rules and will comply with any conditions attached to their visa. If they cannot, the officer can and will refuse entry.’
However many immigration officers have warned their authorities that the new rules designed to ensure that no bogus student enter UK, are not working. Foreign students are supposed to show sufficient funds if they wish to come to UK to ensure that they can support their stay in the country. The UK Border Agency insisted that it is compulsory for all the entrants to satisfy the immigration rules. Many immigration officers at the big international air ports of UK like, Heathrow Airport are stunned to see the number of people entering UK on student visas. The numbers of people entering UK are so many in numbers that sometimes the queues they stand in stretch for hundreds of yards down the terminal. The airport authorities reported that there could be chaos and problems in future if the checks aren’t properly ensured.
Many interesting cases have been reported by media about bogus students and how they enter UK. As reported by an immigration officer about a recent case of an Indian woman in her 50s who presented herself as a student enrolled in an advanced course, despite the fact that she could barely speak English. The Immigration officer said, “She was going to do an ACCA accounting course, of which when asked in Hindi what ACCA meant, she didn’t have a clue. She wasn’t even able to say in her own language what the course was going to entail.”
It is likely that anyone coming in to the UK must satisfy the border force officer that they meet the immigration rules and will comply with any conditions attached to their visa. If they cannot, the officer can and will refuse entry ensuring that only genuine students with proper knowledge about the course would enter UK.
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Indian students on international campuses over the last few years have emerged as the biggest group world over, even lagging the number of Chinese students behind. As reported by the annual publications of Open Doors by the Institute of International Education (IIE), in association with the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, India remained the leading country of origin of foreign students in America for the seventh consecutive time in financial year 2008 increasing by 13% to 94,563 students overall.
Overall, more than 2 lac Indian students studied overseas last year. The attraction of foreign campuses is due to enormous reasons and not just because of infrastructure problems at home institutions- such as poor organisation structure, not enough seats for professional courses, improper competition or the reservation system. Studying overseas is considered as a huge opportunity for global careers and Indian students turn out to be the most skilled professionals among the lot. Indian families enroot their children since the beginning to the benefits of education and they go a long way to avail them with good education. Many families are willing to do investments in their children’s future by availing themselves of loans to send their younger ones abroad for further education. To top it all, Indian banks seem to have developed a great interest in providing loans for few years of educations abroad to aspiring students.
Indian students are being considered as huge market surpluses by many overseas universities which mainly depend on offshore students as they generate large revenues for them. For instance, in 2007-08 educational institutions in Australia earned around A$13.7 billion, purely from international students out of which about 97,000 students came from India.
The Australian ‘education’ dream however now seem to fade away with the new buzz across the country about racial attacks on Indian students and on the other hand the impacts of recession on the global market. Inspite of all, many students are still pursuing Australia as it was once considered as a hottest campus for education. According to the latest figures as provided by the US Embassy, a dramatic decline of 25% in the numbers of F1 student visas issued in India for the financial year of 2009 (Oct- 208 to Sep 2009) as this year only 25,860 visas were issued against 34,510 issued in FY 2008.
Many experts still believe that inspite of the downturn and decrease in number of students going abroad, the numbers of students seeking admission abroad will continue to rise. Speaking on the same, Ms. Shevanti Narayan- country co-ordinator, educational advising services, United States India Educational Foundation- said, “Worldwide economic recession is bound to have an impact n the number of students applying to the USA. However, interest in US higher education continues. Large numbers of students still throng the US university fairs that we organise and we continue to meet students at our centres all over the country seeking guidance on the application procedures. The benefits of US higher education can not be undermined an Indian student equipped with US education comes out with a truly global edge.”
People still see US as a preferred destination for education abroad simply because of its multi-ethnic population as many students are getting paranoid with racial attacks. Ms. Narayan further added that US continues to be a popular destination for Indian students. The quality, choice, value and flexibility are some of the factors that make Indian students choose US over any other country. The US educational experience encourages one to be innovative, creative and think independently. The long term career prospects of a student are enhanced as the method of teaching is designed to apply theoretical knowledge. The American approach to education is recognised as among the best and most innovative in the world.
Australia on the other hand is going to suffer setbacks while attracting the same amount of foreign students as following the recent attacks on Indian students the Australian government has now taken precautionary measures to filter genuine students out of the lot. Michael A. Opie, Manager International Students (International office- Charles Darwin University) was quoted saying, “I was told by all agents that the number of applications are down for Australia and that they expect it to take atleast 6 months to recover. I think the steps taken by the Australian government will help but now that many Indian students are being interviewed before a visa is granted I suspect that this will mean that fewer visas are refused for diploma level studied. This will also reduce the number of students coming to Australia. Prospective students are also aware that there are likely to be changes in migration rules in the near future and this is also causing some hesitation about applying to study in Australia.”
Following the uproar on systematic rules and regulations for student visas, UK Border Agency has also streamlined the system for applying for a visa under Tier 4 system which was amended recently on October 1st. Speaking on the same, Ms. Sally Goggin, Head Education, British Council India and Sri Lanka says, “We are still seeing an increase in the number of students going to the UK. Education is so important to Indian families that they will put this ahead of many other things and continue to invest in their children’s future. I think education is seen as even more important in a time of economic slowdown as it becomes a key routine to ensuring a secure career. The new visa regulations have been introduced over the past few months and students and agents are slowly getting used to these and the process is therefore coming easier now that the transition from the old to the new system has taken place. Based on what we are hearing from UK institutions and the UK border agency numbers have increased this year”. This year a rough estimate has shown that in 2008 there were over 30,000 Indian students in UK and over 15% increase has taken this year.
Canada also does not lag behind. Canada is expecting a hike in the number of students from India. Indian students are weighing advantages as they are allowed to work part time and even gain a permanent residency after they finish with their studies. Studying in Canada is also seen as an advantage for a fast track global job market. Ms. Maria Mathai, Director, Canadian Education Centre, India said, “The cost of studying and living in Canada has remained stable at about Rs. 4-4.5 lac per year. Besides there has been significant interest and a positive vibe generated by the launch of the Canadian experience class visa which is a policy is favourable to international students. Most institutions in Canada have seen an increase in enrolments and some have had record number of applications. This year we are quite optimistic and expert to continue to demonstrate an increased percentage in overall numbers of Canada.”
Apart from that, countries like France, New Zealand and Germany have also opened doors for Indian students on job market front. France now allows its students to stay back for 6 more months to look for jobs after they finish with their studies. New Zealand, under the skilled immigration category allows skilled students to stay back and gain a permanent residency status. The demand for student visas among Indian nationals is going to rise within coming months.
Source- Economic Times
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Many parts of Northern India witnessed a huge rush of student visa applications following the implementation of study visa rules changing for UK. The UK visa application centre in Chandigarh, India, was overrun with people earlier this week. The crowd had to be dispersed with the help of local police forces as the UK visa application centre in Jalandhar was over crowded. All the applicants were hoping to obtain their visas before the changes to the UK visa regulations that were to be introduced on 1st October 2009.
The UK border agency applied certain changes for applications to the student visa category. The new tighter restrictions affect those applying for visas under Tier 4 of the UK points based system. It also largely impact people who are hoping to gain a student visa to allow them to study in the UK. Before October 1st, there were not such strict requirements for an applicant to apply for a student visa in terms of ‘declaration of finances’. The tighter restrictions require student visa applicants submitted from outside the UK to show they have funds for fees and maintenance in their banks for a 28 day period within a month of making their application. However, those who applied before 01 October only had to show they had the funds on the day they applied.
The visa application centres witnessed a huge rush in Punjab and Haryana region.
Many of those seeking visas in the rush failed as the counter at the Visa Facilitation Services centre closed early due to a large crowd of people who had come from all over the region. As reported by a visa seeker about desperation among the applicants, “there is no discipline here. Nobody is giving us any information. The police are also baton charging us. First police asked us to sit, then after about ten minutes, they started beating us. One boy started bleeding after being hit in the leg.”
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