Students denied visas on flimsy grounds?

Seven students who had completed their BSc Computer Studies programme conducted by Londontec International College (LIC) in affiliation with the University of Sunderland (UK), were refused visas to attend their degree conferment ceremony in Sunderland.
Fifteen LIC students had completed their course this year and nine received official invitations by the state university to attend the ceremony in the UK.

Of the nine students who applied for their visa, seven were rejected under various grounds, some of which the students complained were totally unrelated to their visit. The other two students are awaiting a reply to their applications on Monday. M.H. Zulfer, the course co-ordinator in Sri Lanka told the Sunday Times that LIC had informed the UOS about the matter and that they in turn had contacted the British High Commission here to confirm their recommendations.

"I was faxed a copy of the recommendation to the High Commission but nothing has been done so far. One is a Technical Manager in a leading international software company and has no financial problems. He has visited many countries in the past, but the visa office had denied his visa because they feared that he would settle in the UK," he said. Mr Zulfer said one visa application was rejected as they were suspicious of the student not taking his whole family for the function. "The students are not content with the reasons behind their rejections and they feel their human rights have been violated," he said.

A British High Commission spokesman told the Sunday Times that he was unaware of this particular incident and that it was difficult for him to comment on individual cases. "We get about 200 visa applicants a day and whether they are approved or not depends on their individual application," he said.