It's that time of the year when hundreds of students from India pack their bags to go and join colleges and universities in the US. And though, like previous years, there has been an increase in the number of Indians going to campuses in the US, two incidents of raids by US immigration authorities on colleges for fraudulent practices, which involved a large number of Indian students, in the past few months are causing concern.
Early this year, in January, US immigration authorities raided Tri-Valley University in California, alleging that the school's founder and president, Susan Xiao-Ping Su, was issuing US student visas to foreign nationals willing to pay for them. Over 95% of Tri-Valley's 1,500 students were from India, and the institution listed out the same address for over half of them. Later, in July, the University of Northern Virginia too was raided by the US law enforcement authorities on grounds of alleged visa fraud and here too, hundreds of the students were from India.
These two cases appear to be just the tip of the iceberg, and most immigration lawyers and experts in the US now feel that more and more such dubious colleges and universities will come under the scanner of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS). And it is well-known that a large number of students in such institutions are from India, particularly from Andhra Pradesh.
More Raids Likely
A recent article in the influential The Chronicle of Higher Education in the US suggests that Tri-Valley is only the beginning and there are many other colleges, most of them unaccredited, which are exploiting byzantine federal regulations, enrolling almost exclusively foreign students and charging them upward of $3,000 for a chance to work in the US.
"They flourish in California and Virginia, where regulations are lax, and many of their practices - for instance, holding some classes on only three weekends per semester - are unconventional, to say the least. These colleges usher in thousands of foreign students and generate millions of dollars in profits because they have the power, bestowed by the US government, to help students get visas," the Chronicle article said.
During a trip to India last month, Reta Jo Lewis, the special representative for global intergovernmental affairs with the state department, said the DHS had the lead on many more universities in the US, which were guilty of such fraudulent practices.
Misuse of Student Visas
Immigration experts in India and in the US point out that the modus operandi among Indian students who are flouting rules follows a common pattern. In most of the cases, the I-20 form, which is required for a student visa, is issued by a different college, than the one the students finally land up in. The easy transfer norms are made use of by professionals from India who are mostly headed to the US to look for work. In most cases, they are not young students and the sham universities facilitate their illegal stay in the US in exchange for huge amounts of money.
"Genuine students from India, who are aiming to study in the US, should expand their consideration set of potential institutions beyond traditional top institutions as suggested by rankings. However, they should also recognise that there is a wide spectrum of quality of institutions ranging from Harvard University to Tri-Valley University. The key is to make informed choices and treat any short-cuts promised by 'study abroad' agents or institutions with caution. Students should make sure that the institution they plan to study in is listed in the US Department of Education's website and preferably accredited by one of the six regional accrediting agencies," says Rahul Choudaha, director of development & innovation, World Education Services, New York.
Even as the US embassy in Delhi has recently announced a 20% increase in the number of student visa applications this year in India from a year ago, there have also been warnings against lack of physical attendance at colleges in the US, failure to maintain full course-load and unauthorised employment. Many student visa applicants felt that there were more questions asked at interviews at the embassy and consulates this year and the process of getting an F1 student visa took longer than previous years.
Early this year, in January, US immigration authorities raided Tri-Valley University in California, alleging that the school's founder and president, Susan Xiao-Ping Su, was issuing US student visas to foreign nationals willing to pay for them. Over 95% of Tri-Valley's 1,500 students were from India, and the institution listed out the same address for over half of them. Later, in July, the University of Northern Virginia too was raided by the US law enforcement authorities on grounds of alleged visa fraud and here too, hundreds of the students were from India.
These two cases appear to be just the tip of the iceberg, and most immigration lawyers and experts in the US now feel that more and more such dubious colleges and universities will come under the scanner of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS). And it is well-known that a large number of students in such institutions are from India, particularly from Andhra Pradesh.
More Raids Likely
A recent article in the influential The Chronicle of Higher Education in the US suggests that Tri-Valley is only the beginning and there are many other colleges, most of them unaccredited, which are exploiting byzantine federal regulations, enrolling almost exclusively foreign students and charging them upward of $3,000 for a chance to work in the US.
"They flourish in California and Virginia, where regulations are lax, and many of their practices - for instance, holding some classes on only three weekends per semester - are unconventional, to say the least. These colleges usher in thousands of foreign students and generate millions of dollars in profits because they have the power, bestowed by the US government, to help students get visas," the Chronicle article said.
During a trip to India last month, Reta Jo Lewis, the special representative for global intergovernmental affairs with the state department, said the DHS had the lead on many more universities in the US, which were guilty of such fraudulent practices.
Misuse of Student Visas
Immigration experts in India and in the US point out that the modus operandi among Indian students who are flouting rules follows a common pattern. In most of the cases, the I-20 form, which is required for a student visa, is issued by a different college, than the one the students finally land up in. The easy transfer norms are made use of by professionals from India who are mostly headed to the US to look for work. In most cases, they are not young students and the sham universities facilitate their illegal stay in the US in exchange for huge amounts of money.
"Genuine students from India, who are aiming to study in the US, should expand their consideration set of potential institutions beyond traditional top institutions as suggested by rankings. However, they should also recognise that there is a wide spectrum of quality of institutions ranging from Harvard University to Tri-Valley University. The key is to make informed choices and treat any short-cuts promised by 'study abroad' agents or institutions with caution. Students should make sure that the institution they plan to study in is listed in the US Department of Education's website and preferably accredited by one of the six regional accrediting agencies," says Rahul Choudaha, director of development & innovation, World Education Services, New York.
Even as the US embassy in Delhi has recently announced a 20% increase in the number of student visa applications this year in India from a year ago, there have also been warnings against lack of physical attendance at colleges in the US, failure to maintain full course-load and unauthorised employment. Many student visa applicants felt that there were more questions asked at interviews at the embassy and consulates this year and the process of getting an F1 student visa took longer than previous years.
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