Third of foreign student visas 'lack credibility'

A third of visas handed to overseas students should never have been issued with up to 70,000 foreign undergraduates applications "lacking credibility", a government survey has found.

An intention to remain in Britain, failure to speak any English and no desire to complete their degree were given as the top three reasons given to Home Office investigators.

Three out of five visas given to students from India and Nigeria were found to “lack credibility”, the study found.

The survey is part of a crackdown on student visas that have for many years been abused with paperwork being the sole criteria for applications rather than face-to-face interviews.

Despite having certificates showing that they are qualified English speakers, hundreds of students could not answer the most basic questions in interviews without an interpreter.

A sixth of those applying as university undergraduates and two-thirds of those at private colleges were considered to have suspicious applications, the Home Office interviewers concluded in a move to crack down on bogus student visas.

Wonder how many of those live in Coventry given its excessive student population?