Visa-scam schools face crackdown as new rules approved
Wednesday September 02 2009
MEASURES paving the way for a clampdown on bogus schools and student visa scams have been approved by the Government.
The plan is to increase the flow of legitimate students while eliminating fraudsters abusing the immigration process by using rogue colleges as a front for visa factories.
The crackdown on using the colleges as a back door for illegal entry here is part of a broader move to develop Ireland's reputation as a quality education destination.
Twenty specific proposals, including a cap on the length of time a person can spend in Ireland as a student, were published yesterday by Justice Minister Dermot Ahern.
The Government is keen to secure a bigger share of the international education sector, which already contributes €900m to the economy each year and supports thousands of jobs.
But Ireland attracts less than one per cent of the student market, which is set to rise by 300pc over the next 15 years.
Mr Ahern said yesterday: "We need to take a fresh look at how we are dealing with students from countries outside the European economic area.
"International education is a vital industry with significant growth potential and we will only achieve that potential by having a visibly strong regulatory environment," he noted.
Up to now colleges recruiting overseas students here have operated in a regulatory limbo and a number have been turned into visa factories.
- Tom Brady and Katherine Donnelly
