Nigerian agents are apparently being targeted by cops or employed security services to retrieve large deposit payments students have actually paid when applying to study in the UK.
Meanwhile, concerns are intensifying over the future safety of university agents in the country, as tensions mount over who is accountable.
A number of organizations have a policy of keeping tuition cost deposits to prospective students if UKVI chooses that they are not an authentic trainee following a research study visa interview.
Research study visa rejections for Nigeria have actually soared to 21% in Q1 of 2026, regardless of the reality trainees pay their potential university between ₤ 4,000 and ₤ 8,000 in upfront tuition costs to show they are genuine and financially efficient in supporting themselves in the UK.Speaking to one master agent, The PIE News has actually discovered that the circumstance has actually ended up being significantly unstable as households turn to intimidation tactics or authorities support to try to obtain deposit funds that they believe to have actually been taken.”As visas are being refused after a UKVI interview,
universities are often declining to reimburse the deposit, “explained the representative.”The issue is students are then reporting their university counsellor to the cops, thinking their representative has kept the cash.””No one would anticipate a university to [deal with] a
trainee in the method they are doing– so naturally the agent gets blamed and is detained till the deposit is paid back, “they added. The circumstance mirrors an incident in Pakistan where a student with a gun got in
a representative’s office to require the return of a tuition charge deposit.
Nobody would anticipate a university to [treat] a student in the way they are doing
Confidential master agent
Internet-based scamming prevails in Nigeria, with gangs called the ‘Yahoo Boys’ running extortion practices online. As an outcome, there is a common presumption that unreturned deposits belong to a comparable deceptiveness, designed to extort money from households who buy their children’s education.
As an outcome, hopeful worldwide students are resisting by working with local assailants to reverse the extortion and obtain funds from their agents, no matter their chosen university’s position.
“The objective is to frighten the representatives,” the master representative described. “As a result, we have actually had to bail out associates who are being detained or extorted. The scenario is getting actually harmful, but our university partners do not would like to know.”
The PIE has been investigating the British universities who have collected millions of pounds in tuition cost deposits from trainees who they deemed to be compliant but were eventually refused a visa to study in the UK.
The financial loss has been intensified by the increasing cost of visa application for the UK, as the Home Office generated ₤ 9.3 m in visa costs from declined applications over the in 2015.
In spite of the clear spike in visa rejections, numerous universities have actually been unwilling to alter their refund policies, with problems that some are not effectively communicating the threat to students who are applying.
Stakeholders stress rely on the UK’s reputation is being worn down by these practices that are leaving both students and representative partners at threat.
A director of international recruitment at a UK university spoke with The PIE, saying: “The concern is that as institutions, agents and even trainees are positioned under monetary pressure, they can intensify decisions. This is a real danger to the UK’s track record and relationships in crucial markets.”
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