Bogus colleges in the United Kingdom

rdf:langString Bogus colleges in the United Kingdom

rdf:langString In the United Kingdom a bogus college is a fake college or university used as part of an immigration and visa scam, whereby people from overseas can apply for a British student visa and illegally reside in the United Kingdom. They have also been set up as a money making scam, selling fake qualifications which have no official accreditation, often at the taxpayer's expense. To tackle the problem of bogus colleges the British Government established a register of approved education providers in 2005. The register requires potential applicants for student visas to prove that they would be attending a legitimate college or university during their stay in the United Kingdom. The Home Office appoints accreditation bodies to inspect any colleges which wish to take international students. However, the register came in for criticism in 2008 after the government admitted that since the register's establishment almost half of the institutions on the list had been struck off following inspections. The system has been revised a number of times since its establishment. In April 2009 the UK Border Agency introduced tougher rules for international students coming to the United Kingdom. These included fingerprinting and checking potential applicants against security and immigration watchlists.