Beware of fake agents, UK tells Indian students
Saturday, 20/10/2012
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NEW DELHI: Indian students applying to study in the UK should stay clear of “unscrupulous agents” who are using increasingly varied strategies to dupe applicants, the UK Border Agency (UKBA) has warned.
The UKBA — Britain’s immigration authority — has also decided to bar agents from collecting passports and other documents on behalf of applicants at the end of visa processing, from October 10.
“The UKBA wants to ensure the safe and secure return of documents to visa applicants,” a British High Commission official told HT.
Thousands of Indian students each year find themselves trapped in a complex web of misleading agents, poor regulations and dubious universities that leaves them in debt, and often on the wrong side of the law in a foreign land, as reported by HT in a three-part series earlier this week.
After the US, the UK draws most Indian students, followed by Australia and Canada. For some, the journey begins with attempting to lie to immigration authorities while seeking a visa.
“Don’t be misled by unscrupulous agents and think that it is acceptable to submit forged documents,” UKBA regional director Thomas Greig said. Applicants caught for using forged documents are barred for 10 years from applying.
From claiming that they have contacts within the UKBA, the British High Commission or VFS- Global, its commercial partner, to pointing applicants to fake websites designed to look official, agents are using increasingly complex strategies, the UKBA has warned.
The new warning by UK authorities comes at a time when new visa rules have drastically cut student applications to that country by 30%. But British authorities have in recent years also come across increasing instances of visa fraud from Indian applicants.
