Students suffer as US and UK visa centres shut down

[Naveed Yaseen]

* US and UK visa centres closed for security reasons
* Students and parents worried about reaching foreign institutions in time for session
* Student counsellor says Australia best option

By Adnan Lodhi

LAHORE: Several students interested in obtaining their higher education from various universities of the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US) are not able to go abroad even after they have been granted admission, because the visa centres have been shuttered.

Students said that the closure of the visa centres was causing delay in the issuance of their visas, adding that they were missing the colleges’ joining dates. They said that apart from their career being affected, their time and money was also being wasted. They urged the government to help them by holding talks with the embassies.

On time: Thousands of Pakistani students go to various universities in the UK and the US for higher studies. The closure of the visa centres has disappointed both the students and their parents. The US visa centre was shut down after the Marriott Hotel blast, while the UK visa centre had already been shut down due to security reasons. Adviser on Interior Rehman Malik gave a briefing to foreign representatives who were worried about the country’s security situation. The representatives demanded the Government of Pakistan to ensure their security, say that otherwise they would also be forced to close their offices.

Muhammad Naveed, a student at FAST, said that he wanted to apply to a MBA programme in the UK as he had completed his BS(Hons). He said that he was unsure about this after the closure of the visa centres. He said that the new session would start in February, adding that the registration process required a few months. He said that he wanted to be sure that his time and money would not be wasted in doing so. He said that many of his friends had already paid the universities and were very worried because of the visa situation. Nasif Butt, another student, said that he had applied to a university in the UK. He said that this had cost him a lot of money, adding that thousands of other students were in the same situation. He said that the government should take the necessary steps to remedy this.

Mujtaba Khan, a student’s father, said that he was worried about his son’s future, adding that his son had applied for MBA in the UK. He said that all the necessary processes were complete, adding that he had even paid the university after his son’s admission had been confirmed. He appealed to the UK, the US and the Pakistani government to look into the matter, as it concerned the future of thousands of students.

Australia: Arshad Ali Kazmi of ‘Student Counselling and Overseas Recruitment Services’ said that in the UK, most universities start their sessions during the last week of September. He said that students who would not attend the initial classes would be dropped from the semester. He said that, earlier, the UK visa centre had only shut down for three days, adding that in those three days several students were dropped from their semesters. He said that several students, however, had consulted the embassy concerned and had gotten an extension on when they had to reach their universities. He said that the universities of the UK and the US did not provide such relaxations to their perspective students. He said that because of the closure of these visa centres, students should apply to other countries like Australia, Singapore and Sweden, adding that Australia would be the best option for them in his opinion.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...008_pg13_1