UK suspends acceptance of visa applications from Indian students

United Kingdom, January 31: As per the latest announcement by the British High Commission, no new Student visa applications from Indian students for will be accepted.

This latest announcement comes in the wake of suspicious increase in the student visa applications by a whopping 650 percent in just three months time. The ruling comes into effect from February 1, 2010 onwards. 

Revealing about the latest rules of the British High Commission, the regional director of UK Border Agency, Chris Dix briefed the reporters in New Delhi on Saturday saying the High Commission of the UK will not accept student visa applications for studying in UK under Tier 4 of the PBS (Points Based System) at the centers for visa applications in Jalandhar, Chandigarh and New Delhi from this Monday onwards. 

The decision, stated Dix, was taken in the wake of dramatic surge in the student visa applications in northern India between the months of October 2009 till December 2009. The total number of applications for such visas rose from 1800 in the year 2008 to 13,500 in 2009.

Nigel Casey, the British deputy high commissioner, stated that the decision was taken after seeing a dramatic increase in the student visa applications along with the raising concerns about its quality since many in North India have been fuelling the news that a good way to get settled in the UK is by getting a student visa. 

The announcement of putting to a halt all student visa applications for UK will help the UK immigration officials to scrutinize the applications thoroughly and help in managing the visa process in the best possible manner in North India.
To check any fradulent applications, even previous student visa applications will be scrutinized
In what is being termed as a local solution to a local problem, the immigration officials of the UK will check all applications already submitted before 1st February, 2010 to analyze whether or not such applications are genuine and whether all such applicants will be able to support themselves financially while studying in Britain.

Meanwhile, student visa applications submitted before February 1, 2010 will be processed as usual. 
Student Visa Applications from South and West India may be unaffected 
Also, this announcement will not, in any way, affect the India visa centers in South and Western India. But the applicants are advised to contact the respective visa application centers in South India or Western India via email to know whether their applications will be accepted by these centers.