Chinese visa refusals

Rise in Chinese visa refusals

UK universities and education agents in China have been noticing increased levels of student visa refusals among their Chinese students this year, ever since changes were intoduced to the visa application system in May.

Since this time, UK immigration officers in China have been basing their decision on whether to grant Chinese students a visa on documental evidence only, instead of a personal interview. Lucy Shih from Haiyi Company based in Shanghai said that this was having a detrimental effect on visa acceptance rates, especially for those not used to the new system. 'Many of the documents are poorly prepared if the students have no experience of filing an application, or some of the original documents from China don't look authentic [due to the poor printing quality in China], which leaves a bad impression on the visa officer and causes its refusal,' she said. 'Agencies like us are very experienced with preparing good and persuasive documents to pass the paper screening process,' she added.

According to a report in The Guardian newspaper in the UK, the Vice Chancellor of Luton University reported that visa success rates for their Chinese students were down from 70 per cent in 2003 to 30 per cent this year, while at Leeds University, 78 of its 81 Chinese applicants were refused a visa this year.

Many other UK education providers have also been reporting difficulties with Chinese enrolments this year. Rebecca Brown Forden from York College reported that the Chinese student market had been experiencing a 'significant downturn' recently due to 'changes in the visa system in China, such as the abolition of visa interviews which gave students the opportunity to put their case forward'.

UK visas confirmed that the applications process had been toughened in order to deter those applying for a student visa in order to work in the UK.

According to the Higher Education Statistics Agency, 35,155 Chinese students came to study in UK universities in 2002/2003.

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bei@Tokyo.com