Royal Holloway University revokes visa of Pakistani student

LONDON: A Pakistani student's visa was cancelled by the Royal Holloway University despite the student meeting the attendance requirements of the university after a warning was issued to him.

Shafay Shoaib, a first-year student at Royal Holloway received the news of his visa cancellation of his visa after significantly improving his attendance and meeting the requirements set by the university. While terminating his visa, the University has refused Pakistani student the right to appeal while not applying the same rule in case of students from other countries.

"I joined my course late because my visa was delayed by the Home Office. How could I attend classes when my visa hadn't even arrived?" Shoaib told Geo News while discussing how stressful it was to adjust in a new country as a young undergraduate student.

"A few of my friends had lower attendance than me but their visas haven't been impacted. Why are they targeting me? It's clear that there is an element of discrimination in my case. I have fulfilled the requirement, I like this university and I want to study here but the university is hanging me out to dry from some unknown reasons," said the student from Lahore.

Shafay said he faced mental health problems including depression and adjustment issues but instead of providing support to him Royal Holloway became the source of his misery by treating him in a cruel and discriminatory manner.

In the first formal warning letter, the university told Shoaib to show an immediate and sustained improvement over the next four weeks. He was required to attend all classes (lectures, seminars, tutorials, laboratory sessions); submit all required coursework by the deadlines set; attend all required formative and summative assessments.

The warning read: “If you fail to meet any of these conditions over the next four weeks that is, by 07/02/2020 or if you meet these conditions and then fail to sustain this improvement during this academic year or in subsequent years of study, you will be issued with a second (final) warning, which could lead to the discontinuation of your registration at the College."

After the warning, the Pakistani student kept a 100% attendance record since the warning was issued. A month later on 10/02/2020 he was called into a meeting with the university administrations Visa Officer. The visa officer went on to terminate the student's visa disregarding his improved attendance and deeming his reasoning of being mentally depressed and his inability to adjust in the first term as an unsatisfactory reason.

The Pakistani student had greatly improved his attendance and followed the guidelines given to him. He took his attendance level to 64% — 4% more than the requirement set by the university. However, he received an email from the university saying that they had reported him to the UK Border Agency (UKBA) and that his visa had been cancelled without any second warning.

The university official told him in an email: “Your attendance level as of 02/03/2020 was 64% and you had 14 unauthorised absences. You were issued with a First Formal Warning on 07/01/2020. However, I note that your student registration at Royal Holloway, University of London has been terminated due to a Tier 4 Visa Breach and you are now classified as a leaver.”

Shoaib's father who has travelled to London from Pakistan to support his son's case said, "I am very stressed. As a father, I worked hard to provide a good education for my children but now we are at the mercy of the university which has treated my son extremely unfairly."

He also stated that they tried contacting the Student Administrations Visa officer for two days but the staff of the university replied the visa officer would only reply through email and would not be able to meet the Lahore businessman face to face. Shoaib’s father added that he is a law abiding citizen of Pakistan and pays an annual tax of more than eight million Pakistani Rupees and his only wish is to see his son succeed in completing his education from the UK through his hard-earned resources.

His father further mentioned that Shoaib's mother was in the hospital since the last five days due to the stress caused by the university's behaviour. He questioned: "Who will be responsible if anything happens to my wife? Do Royal Holloway and the UKBA understand the stress they cause to families?"

There are over 10,000 Pakistani nationals who are pursuing higher education in the UK. International students have to pay double the fees as local students but many international students argue that despite paying double the fees and fulfilling the rigorous criteria of the British system, they do not get equal rights and are systematically discriminated against.

On March 2, the university wrote to Shoaib: “We reported the termination of your student registration disciplinary reasons – Tier 4 Visa Breach at Royal Holloway, University of London to the UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) office on 24/02/2020. Please kindly note that failure to attend classes or complete assessments in line with UK Visa and Immigration (UKVI) requirements has resulted in your sponsorship being withdrawn, your visa being cancelled and your registration with the College being discontinued. This discontinuation of registration due to a breach in Visa requirements is conducted independently of the College's formal warning process as outlined in your formal warning letter issued to you on 07/01/2020 and the decision is not open to appeal.”

The student studied in Lahore at the International School of Chouiefat-Lahore.

Shaoib's father has spent more than £40,000 so far on his education and living expenses in the UK.

When asked why the warning was issued to him and what the issue of attendance was, Shaoib said, “I attended the lectures but had problems figuring out when and where my classes were in the beginning of the semester as was the case with many of my fellow students. In addition to that I struggled with mental issues regarding fitting into the new environment and adjusting myself according to it. The mental depression played a very big role in my lack of attendance in the first semester. But I never let it affect my academic ability and scored four distinctions in all four of the modules that I took. Once I was settled in my attendance I got better as well which is evident by the 100% attendance record I have maintained since 10/01/2020.

Shoaib intends to take his case to the court to seek justice.