Switzerland Prohibits 50 Indian Students From Entering Schengen Zone After They Submitted Forged University Admission Letters

Switzerland Europe Higher Education News by Erudera News Feb 15, 2022

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50 students from Kerala, India, have been black-listed by the Schengen Zone until October 21, 2024, after providing fake school admission letters for their visa application to Switzerland.

The forged letter is issued under a Kochi-based foreign language training center, and as the police in Ernakulam region confirmed, during the same time, a case has been registered for training institute “Farbe School of Foreign Languages,” director of which received money from students in exchange of securing their admission to the Benedict School in Bern, in addition to an internship of Rs 2-lakh ($2,655) monthly stipend.

Those 50 students were informed about the ban only after the fraud came to light, on October 22, 2021, from a letter sent by the Swiss embassy, Erudera.com reports.

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Nonetheless, a case of a similar issue was reported by a student at the Ernakulam North police station on December 16, 2021, but police forces have reportedly not taken any action against the owner of the institute. The report notes that the director received thousands of rupees from each applicant.

“It was after we successfully completed the A1 level exam in the German language that the managing director came up with an offer that he could help us get an admission in a school in Switzerland that also offers a monthly stipend. Though he demanded Rs 5 lakh ($6,637) from each applicant, it was later reduced to Rs 3 lakh ($3,982) as a special offer and collected Rs 2 lakh ($2,655) as advance payment,” the complainant reads.

On the other hand, Gireesh, identified as the director of the language training center, said he has nothing to do with students’ admission letters as those were done by a Hyderabad-based global education firm.

“I have not issued any admission letter to the students. Also, there are only 13 students affected by the goof-up and not 50 as alleged,” Gireesh said, also pointing out he has taken the matter to the Hyderabad agency and requested from the Swiss Embassy to lift the ban – expecting from the letter to lift the restriction in the next 22 days.

According to the Embassy of India to Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein, it is estimated that around 1,000 students are currently pursuing their studies in the central-European country.

While 93 percent of Swiss tertiary education graduates in 2018 were employed in their field of study, typically within the first year of their studies, the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) has revealed that 57 percent of students in Switzerland have reported difficulties in their education, mostly due to the content of courses, as a 2020 report on the social and economic situation of students shows.

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