Fake Indian students who were brazenly exploiting Australia’s visa system have complained they’ve been left out of pocket after their fake colleges were shut down.
The Australian government in August ordered the closure of 150 “ghost colleges” – fake schools that take fees from international students who never attend classes but work full-time instead – and sent warning notices to 140 more.
Upset visa scammers have since complained to Indian newspaper The Tribune, which confirmed that some of the shut-down colleges were co-owned by or cooperating with migration agents in Punjab to provide international students with “backdoor immigration and work rights”.
“I came to Australia two years ago as a student after being assured that I can work five days a week, while my attendance and course would be taken care of. Now, I have been told by my Punjab-based agent that the government has sealed the college,” one fake student told the publication.
“The agent who sent us here has already shut operations in March after being booked in a visa cheating case.”
Another complained that she and her brother were shocked after suddenly being ordered to report back to their ghost college after moving to Adelaide to work in a café.
“The authorities later shut the college. Till now, we have no idea how to handle the situation. We have already paid the entire course fee,” said.
Migration agents also confirmed that they were being affected by the Australian crackdown and similar actions taken by the Canadian government, but said they expected to find a way around the situation.
“I have already shut my operations in Punjab, after Canada and Australia tightened the noose around study visas. Many private colleges in Canada and Australia have funding from agents like us,” said one agent who admitted sending hundreds of fake students to Australia.
“We have told the students not to panic and there will be a way out soon.”
“The students know that the college admission is a mere formality and that they are free to work there till they get residency,” said another agent who is wanted for travel fraud.
In a discussion about the article on social media, many Australians said they had encountered ghost college visa scammers first-hand.
“I worked at a ghost college,” one said. “There were over 600 students on the books, but we’d be lucky to get even 1 of them showing up. This was for an English pathway to VET program. For those who don’t know, there’s a piece of legislation that says students in ELICOS (English) programs must attend at least 80% of their classes or risk having their visa cancelled.
“I was the director of studies at the time and I was kept in the dark about how this was a ghost college. I kept getting frustrated that I couldn’t hire more teachers (legislation requires 1:18 ratio of teachers to students) and that I would have to report students en masse for non attendance. I basically got told to shut up.
“I soon found out these students had been brought over on student visas in a deal with a construction company – the students would work in construction all day instead of coming to class. They were tricked, as far as I know, and brought over from some poor areas of China.”
“I know someone who scammed their way through an engineering degree overseas, and got a second fake degree from a university in India which was used for a Canadian PR. You hear a lot about the India student problem out of Canada too, it’s a whole industry,” said another.
Header image: Left, students studying English in India (The Tribune). Right, Indian students outside a college in Australia (SBS).
