UK student visa

The United Kingdom´s sudden and unexpected decision to stop accepting student visa applications from parts of South Asia, including Nepal, starting February 1 has left many students high and dry. The UK´s Border Agency, which looks into applications from foreign nationals entering the UK, has also suspended the licenses of over 100 private colleges where thousands of South Asian students, Nepalis among them, are studying. Since the agency has said that it might cancel operations by the colleges if investigations find them violating standard provisions, the future of Nepalis in these colleges hangs in the balance.



The UK agency has tried to justify its harsh decision, arguing that there was a huge inflow of ´unqualified´ students from South Asia. If there was indeed such an inflow, it was because the UK relaxed its visa policy to ´compete´ with other developed countries, particularly the US and Australia, in attracting foreign students. And if students who made it to the UK have been enrolled in colleges that do not meet standard criteria, it´s not the fault of the students. The colleges should not have gotten their operating licenses in the first place. The UK agency cannot, therefore, change the rules in the middle of the game, leaving many foreign students in distress.



If the Border Agency, under extreme circumstances, decides to cancel operational licenses for some of the private colleges, it must also decide ways to compensate the students enrolled there. There is also the issue of students who already have visa appointments with the UK embassy in Kathmandu and have already sent part of their tuition fees to the UK colleges. If the visa applications remain suspended for some time resulting in forfeiture of the advance money sent by students, they should be duly compensated. The current suspension bars even deserving students who have the necessary competence and finances for study in reputed UK universities. The UK should take a decision on this issue with due promptness.



We also have a piece of advice for Nepali students aspiring for further studies abroad, and for their parents. There are ample cases where undeserving, incompetent students apply to go abroad for studies. If they have not scored well in exams in Nepal--or in the worst cases have failed those exams -- they will not be able to perform well abroad either. But an increasing trend among students is to pursue studies abroad simply to escape difficulties they face in Nepal. Unfortunately, some parents also seem to believe that studies-abroad visas for their children mean the end of all of their own hardships and troubles. Things are not that simple. If their children haven´t proved their academic caliber in Nepal, and if they haven’t secured the necessary finances, parents should not encourage their children to go abroad for studies.

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