‘Bogus students problem’ persists even today

As the US, UK and Australia compete for international students, fears of bogus applicants abusing visa systems persist, but recent research suggests fraud risk levels could be low.

The owner of the Florida Language Institute and one employee pleaded guilty last week to charges of making false visa applications on behalf of students applying to study English at their school.

The school, in the suburbs of Miami, was raided in March following a 12-month surveillance operation by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). As well as the arrest of the two defendants and seizures of $2.4m in assets, 81 students from 12 countries were also detained in the Miami area.

The defendants are alleged to have failed to report that the majority of the school's students did not attend classes regularly.

Cases involving suspected visa abuses linked to education and the threat posed by allegedly bogus students grab headlines in other countries. The US, Britain and Australia compete to attract students travelling abroad for study – numbers that, according to OECD estimates, exceeded 3 million in 2007. Institutions must be seen to be safeguarding both their national security and the reputation of their education sectors.

The first line of defence against bogus applications is the application process itself. In the US last year, more than a third of the 490,000 student visa applications made were turned down. The UK rejected a similar proportion of the 350,000 requests it received. Yet only Australia has published a detailed analysis of why students are being refused visas, and by doing so, it has shone a light on the scale and impact of student visa fraud.

The evidence from Australia is that fraud is limited and that the detection and prevention procedures currently used by the department of immigration and citizenship (Diac), which are similar to those used by the US and UK, are fit for purpose.

Countries targeted for scrutiny include India, Mauritius, Nepal, Brazil, Zimbabwe and Pakistan. China, where only government registered agents are allowed to dispatch students and which sent 18% of Australia's 2008 total, was held up by Diac as a model for other countries.

The UK is also keen to improve the quality of agents, who are responsible for placing one in five foreign students. A British Council-led initiative has brought together representatives from the main countries offering English language courses to work on co-ordinating policies.

However, a categorical assessment of the risk posed by student visa fraud will require greater transparency from immigration authorities. Otherwise it is not possible to erase these problems completely.

Courtesy guardian.co.uk

WILD WILD WEST

No, I am not talking about the movie of 'Will Smith' in which  a mad industrialist plans to conquer USA with his idiotic inventions, but it is something which generates excitement in the minds of international students.

In the recent years USA economy has seen   lots of ups and down .There had been change in policies regarding the education and test strategies for students taking admissions in USA.

 But what I have seen is that   the number of students going to USA do not decrease , may increase  on the contrary. Why is so? Sometimes I ponder over it.

One can refer to the article published in December on this blog tagged as ‘Indian students remain spellbound with USA.’

Well what I think is that it is not the moolah which a person will earn in USA after studying from there but the ‘OPEN CULTURE’ which you always find there. ‘OPEN CULTURE’ is an offshoot of ’ Capitalism’ i.e what I mean.

USA has progressed considerably more than any other country just because of the open economy  which has  resulted in the  emergence of  MNC’s, inter-state policies for the companies belonging to other

coun tries to invest there  granting them various facilities which an asian country has never done .

Other asian countries still follow an aspect of socialism and has not developed change in their policies related to communism. That is the key point. If you are an intelligent and creative person why would you not compete  in an open international market and get the credits .

In asian countries we still have reservation quota for the backward classes .Rather than providing them facilities to improve their mental status we offer them quota in order to pamper them, thanks to the politicians.

Second most thing is the ZEAL to succeed .Has anyone wondered why the international brands like colgate, Gillete, windows software, anything ranging from the consumer items  to information technology originates from USAand other european countries. Well just because of the zeal and the efforts they put in the research in order bring out something unique and novel  thing . If we see the movies then again it is the amount of efforts which they put in to produce a movie which look real and reflects the script and story genuinely.

I will say what ever they do they are ‘MAD’ about it.

The brevity of the issue is that anything you do , do it with ZEAL and the whole hearted efforts   whether it is the profession ,any domestic issue or research etc.. Unless you are MAD about anything whether studies , economy or even enjoyment related to your life , you cannot succeed.

Many persons may laugh on this madness but remember this madness  only brings the results which is  apparent from the lives of many great personalities rising from rags to riches.