Student Loan - Loans and Debt Consolidation

MIGRANTS USE STUDENT LOAN SCAM TO GET VISAS TIMES ONLINE

Serious loopholes in immigration rules are potentially allowing thousands of young Indians to enter Britain on falsely obtained student visas, an investigation by The Sunday Times has found.

The money is handed back to the lender as soon as it has appeared on bank statements for a month. The cost to the student is a 7% interest charge and 200 processing fee, which amounts to about 935.

In a covertly filmed investigation, The Sunday Times has established that the scam is operating widely in towns in Punjab, northwest India. It threatens to undermine new Home Office immigration rules which ministers insisted would reduce the number of new arrivals.

Instead, the number of visas granted to Indian students has nearly doubled in the past year, from 29,000 to 52,000. It is feared that many have no intention of studying and simply disappear after entering the UK.

The new points-based entry system was created by Liam Byrne, the former immigration minister and now chief secretary to the treasury.

Students need 40 points to come to Britain. They receive 30 for holding a course offer from a college or university and 10 for proving that they can pay fees and support themselves.

When the system was introduced in March, Jacqui Smith, then home secretary, said it would force immigrants to play by the rules .

In the dusty farming towns of the Punjab, however, the system has fuelled a thriving industry to supply student visas, often by dubious means...[more]