LONDON: An Indian woman who applied for a student visa in New Delhi has
been arrested by the police after it was discovered that she used
another person to appear for her in the mandatory English language
test, the Home Office said.
The UK Border Agency, which is responsible for immigration, referred
the applicant to the police in New Delhi. The applicant's visa
application has been refused, and she has been banned from the UK for
up to 10 years, a statement said.
According to recently released figures by the National Audit Office
(NAO), there was a surge in the number of forgeries detected in student
visa applications lodged in New Delhi during 2010, when the British
high commission stopped accepting new applications.
From the Times of India (April 23, 2012}
Indian student arrested for visa fraud.
The NAO report said that 6,388 forgeries were detected in the New Delhi
office, which was a considerable increase compared to the number of
forgeries detected in previous years: 2,846 in 2009 and 2,153 in 2008.
Responding to the latest example of forgery by the woman applicant,
Regional Director Thomas Greig said: "We have made it very clear that
we will continue to welcome all Indian students who wish to study at
the UK's high quality institutions and meet the new criteria. However,
we will not tolerate abuse of our immigration system and have a zero
tolerance to fraud, as this case shows."
Students who wish to undertake long term study under Tier 4 of the
points based system are required to pass an English language test with
an approved test provider to show that they are proficient in English
language to the required standard, unless they are intending to study
at degree level or above at a university.
The statement said the UK Border Agency had an integrated fraud
assessment unit in India, which uncovers and investigates high volumes
of fraud and forgery in UK visa applications.
Over the last 12 months the UK government has made significant changes
to student visa policy to eliminate abuse of student visas by some UK
education institutions and by students who have been motivated to work
rather than study, the statement added.
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