English language colleges are regularly used as a means to get a UK visa and not to study.

English language colleges will now come under much stricter guidelines since it was discovered that most under degree level were simply being used as a means to gain a UK visa. The announcement to suspend UK visas for these colleges was made by Gordon Brown a few weeks ago; this was a precautionary measure while the problem was addressed.

However certain colleges have now raised concerns that they will be forced to close if the new measures put into place are too stringent. The Abacus College, based in Oxford, is one such institution. The owner, Jenny Wasilewski, claims that the UK is already losing students to countries such as Australia and Canada in the fight to attract students as it is already far easier to gain visas there.

This poses a difficult dilemma for Gordon Brown, as he will now have to consider the impact of losing out on students to other nations – considerably more importance is now placed on such economic consequences during the recession.

The problem that was, will no doubt still remain, if tighter guidelines are not introduced. The issue was actually identified a while ago and measures accordingly put into place to stop abuses of the system, these were however uncovered by the BBC, most probably why the government has paid such attention, as not working.

UK visa system not policed

Basically students wanting to study here were first to get sponsorship from an institution and then prove they had enough funds to support themselves while studying. This seemed a very sensible way of ensuring that these ‘students’ were not simply going to enter the country under the pre-tense of being a student when in fact this was not their intention. The flaws, however, were soon uncovered as all the measures put into place were verified in the students home countries and therefore impossible to police.

UK immigration was on record as saying they were seeing students arrive with sponsorship from institutions that were known to have awarded false qualifications in the past and there was little they could do about any of it. The problem it seems was typical of most in this country, a system over-burdened by the responsibilities laid out in order to operate effectively and without mis-use.

The UK visa system for students has long been held as a route for people wanting to enter this country without the hassle of a normal visa. I have personally even heard of people staying in the country for years enrolling from course to course in order so that they can remain, all the time working illegally and not attending the institution they were supposed to be studying with.

The government has one option when it comes to this problem and that is simple, come down hard and fast on institutions and individuals that exploit the system, no second chances. This again though, is easier than it might appear, it will require extra funding for spot checks on colleges and a new system put into place where the verification procedure happens in this country. It is either this or let the system continue in its imperfect state, as a route for fraudulent students as well as that of the bona-fide kind.

The calls by institutions proclaiming they will shut if new measures are put into place strike me as the death-roll of a creature that knows half the students paying their wages are not what the government would term as dedicated scholars, and in fact part of a relationship that works for both parties involved. The colleges have for to long seen a nice income from this market of student UK visas, it is no wonder they don’t want to see it go.