Impossible to control misuse of study permits

Last autumn, the Swedish Migration Agency published a report showing extensive misuse of residence permits for studies. The survey focuses on people from Pakistan. However, it is not possible to say how many Pakistani students apply for courses at GU, and how many of these are rejected.

SINCE STUDENTS do not specify citizenship when applying to GU, there are no exact figures on the number of applicants from different countries, says John Molander at the International Centre.

– On the other hand, the applicant states an address country, i.e. from which country the application was made, which of course does not have to be the same as where one is a citizen. It is also possible to see the country of prior education. If the pre-education country is China, it is quite certain that the student is a citizen of China. But among those who have the US as their primary education country, only about 70 percent are probably American.

IN ORDER TO determine whether a student really intends to study, the Swedish Migration Agency in some cases conducts a so-called study intention investigation, with interviews before deciding on a residence permit.

– This leads to a lot of problems for the prospective students. They must have paid the term fee before they can apply for a residence permit, which can then take time. Sometimes they may not get an interview until October, and by then half the semester has passed. So we have a group of students who are rejected by the Migration Agency because the Migration Agency makes the assessment that they do not actually intend to study, and another group who withdraw their application because it took so long to receive notification of a residence permit. We cannot know which students belong to which group.

IF THE STUDENT withdraws their application, the semester fee must be paid back, which means a lot of work, says John Molander.

– Many students from, for example, Pakistan have previously paid their fees via exchange offices, as there is a lack of functioning banking systems in some countries, which makes repayments extra complicated. This has meant that we now require card payment from international students from Pakistan, Iran, Sri Lanka and Nigeria.

Eva Lundgren

For more information: https://medarbetarportalen. gu.se/aktuellt/nyheter-detalj// ny-rapport--halften-av-studenterna-pa-engelsksprakiga-program-vid-gu-har-utlandsk-forutbildning.cid1762654?languageId=100001&skipSSOCheck=true.