Four Bhutanese applicants, whose Visas were recently denied by the Australian High Commission, are accusing the education consultancy firm of manipulating and duplicating their documents. They had applied to education visa to study in Australia.
One of the applicants, Tshering Choki said the VISA letters which were handed over to her and her friends look similar. “Even the signatory was the same. So my doubt is that our VISA letters were duplicated.”
Another applicant, Phub Lham said they wanted to appear for IELTS but the company suggested not taking the English language test. She also said the documents which needed to be attached were not attached. “They charged us extra for sending our VISA application to New Delhi. But our documents were found from Jaigoan. This is why we panicked.”
“We thought our documents were sent but we didn’t get anything, not even an acknowledgement. Later, we heard from one of our friends that our VISA applications were denied,” said Passang Wangmo, another applicant.
The agent, on the other hand, denied the charges and said that they did what they could, within the norms of the Australian Immigration Rules.
The Owner Samdrup Penor Education Consultancy & Placement Firm, Rinchen Dema said cannot manipulate the documents. She said it is a crime to do so and they know it.
“When we summit the documents to Australian High Commission, we receive an acknowledgement letter which says acknowledgment of valid application for student Visa.” From then onwards, she said it is up to the Australian High Commission to grant the Visas and when.
She also said they have refunded the entire amount to the unsuccessful applicants.
Samdrup Penor Education Consultancy & Placement Firm received 18 applicants interested to study in Australia this year, of which Visas of five applicants were rejected.