USA

Indian Embassy Warnings For Students Going To The USA

The Indian embassy in Washington has issued a student advisory to exercise due diligence before seeking admission in America Universities.
Students are advised to check for operational campuses and faculty presence.
Advisory comes after 19 Indian students were charged with visa fraud.

Not all universities that have websites are bona fide educational institutions. In wake of the recent student visa fraud cases, the Indian embassy in Washington has issued an advisory to all Indian students going to the USA. Read on to know more about the Indian Embassy warnings for students going to study in the US universities and colleges.

A group of students

In January 2019, 129 Indians enrolled in the University of Farmington in America were student visa fraud. The university was a fake university set up by the Department of Homeland Security in a bid to identify immigrants enrolling in schools as a way of staying in America.

In light of this event, the Indian embassy has issued an advisory to all Indian students seeking admission in American colleges and universities.

Indian Embassy Warnings For Students – Highlights Advisory

The criteria mentioned in the advisory are:

Operational Campuses

Though you may not be able to actually visit the university campus before applying for admission, ensure that the university does, in fact, have an operational campus.

Universities that have only an administrative premise or only a website cannot be considered genuine universities. An easy way to do this is by looking at the location of the university on Google maps.

Faculty Presence

A good educational institution will mention some of its faculty names on the website. Avoid applying to universities that give no information about their faculty on the website and seem to be employing only administrative staff.

If faculty names are mentioned on the website, you may go a step further and cross check them against professional networking platforms such as Linkedin.

Defined Curriculum

Depending on the course you want to be enrolled in, check the curriculum and the class schedule. Avoid applying to universities that do not mention a clear curriculum or class schedule.

Accredited Universities

Not all universities in America are accredited to accept foreign students. Hence, before applying, check for accreditations such as the university’s inclusion in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVIS).

Beware Of Visa Fraud

Some of the students charged with visa fraud had applied to the fake universities through recruiters. The students themselves may or may not have been aware of the university status but the recruiters are sure to have known that the universities were fake.

Hence, if you choose to ask a recruiter for help, check their credentials and be careful that you do not get caught up in a similar racket.

Indian Embassy Warnings For Students – Why Has The Advisory Been Issued?

In a bid to identify recruiters engaged in immigration fraud, fake universities have been set up by the US government. In early 2019, 129

Indian students were charged with immigration fraud after they enrolled themselves in 2 of these colleges and moved to the USA. The students were detained and faced deportation.

In both cases, the students had paid their tuition fees and received F1 visas as well as Curricular Practical Training permission. While the students claimed innocence, the US government accused the students of knowing that they were committing fraud as neither university had faculty or classes.