Kathmandu, Nov 15. Nepali students heading to the United Arab Emirates on student visas are falling prey to an expanding education fraud scheme. More than two thousand students are believed to have been lured to the UAE’s so-called “free zones” where training institutes pose as universities.
The issue surfaced after affected students alerted Education Minister Mahabir Pun and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Both ministries have begun inquiries.
Students have also filed complaints with the Nepali Embassy in Abu Dhabi and the Consulate in Dubai. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lok Bahadur Paudel Kshetri said the investigation is underway in coordination with the Education Ministry.
According to the complaints, institutes registered in the UAE’s free zones advertise themselves as universities and accept Nepali students through at least fifteen Nepal-based consultancies. Each student pays more than one million rupees. Free zones allow easy global registration, which has made them a hotspot for questionable operators.
Minister Pun confirmed the complaints through a public post and urged students to stay alert. He said Nepali consultancies have been sending students to fake colleges registered as institutes in free zones, leading to hardship once they arrive.
How the fraud works
The trap begins in Nepal. Consultancies promote “Study in Dubai or the UAE” through social media. Students are promised accredited bachelor’s or master’s programs, often linked to well-known foreign universities. Once in the UAE, students find empty buildings, makeshift classrooms or virtual training centres instead of the promised university.
Several victims have launched an online campaign named “Scan the Education Scam” to draw government attention. They say the problem is widespread, but many avoid going public to protect their identity.
A student from Kavre travelled to Sharjah in January to study hospitality and tourism. He had paid more than one million rupees, including over five lakh rupees, to the college. He attended physical classes for only three weeks. Later, the institution shifted him to “virtual training”. When he inspected the premises, he says he found no proper facilities. He then met previously enrolled Nepali students who were facing similar problems and realised he had been misled.
When the student questioned the operators, he was expelled from the virtual classes. Soon after, the institution demanded USD 1,400 for visa renewal. He later found that the institute’s licence was about to expire and that they were collecting visa fees before the shutdown. In nine months, he completed only three chapters. He eventually returned to Nepal.
Another student who had joined a master’s program discovered later that her classes were held inside a rented residential room. She also found that the institute lacked university recognition and filed a complaint.
Students say consultancies charge between ten and twenty lakh rupees claiming they are sending them to universities. In reality, many are placed in training institutes that cannot issue recognised degrees. Some institutes convert student visas into working visas after six months, pushing students into low-paid jobs.
Embassy officials say genuine universities in the UAE pose no problem, but those misled into institutes face severe academic and financial losses.
According to Education Ministry records, more than twelve thousand Nepali students have gone to the UAE for study in the past five years. Complaints received so far show that most fraud cases involve two institutes, British International College University FZ and Central Academy for Management Studies. Students say eighteen consultancies in Nepal are involved in supplying students to such operators.
People’s News Monitoring Service
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