I was reading through an FB forum for Filipino nurses in the UK and noticed the common sentiments of people there:

- Filipinos who were scammed to go to the UK as students with a promise of finding work there
- Filipino student nurses who can’t find jobs to support their studies
- Filipino student nurses were now given 10-hour work per week and could no longer make ends meet

A few years ago, a friend of mine has been lured to taking a student visa in the UK as a first step to get there and find work. Part of her retirement pay amounting to P150,000 went to consultancy, seminars and the processing of her student visa application. The agency asked for an additional P150,000. My friend realized that she’s being scammed so she tried to refund her money but the agency refused.

These agencies would promise things they know you would love to hear – high-paying jobs in the UK that would allow you to save more and secure yourself financially. It’s no wonder that Filipino students flew there in droves under student visas (Tier 4 scheme) only to find themselves going down the gutter – expensive school fees and jobs were scarce. And you just can’t turn your back knowing that you had already incurred debts you need to pay. This is really worse than a apidexin scam as it drastically changes your life.

During my brief stay there, I was actually planning to get myself enrolled to Kingston University and take up Fine Arts. The undergraduate fees alone would cost me up to £10,000. So I was like where in God’s name will I find that? Back then, the minimum wage per hour was £5. If that would be computed using the 10-hour work week prescribed by the immigration office, I would need 2000 hours or at least 4 years to pay off my tuition fee and this doesn’t even include allowance for food, clothing, rent and transportation.

Imagine the desperation of some of the Filipinos there going through that predicament. There are far too many of them who have been hit by the latest changes in the Tier 4 scheme under Non-Vocational Qualifications. The changes apply to adult students coming to the UK to study non-degree or below degree level in the further education and English language sectors.

- Students will only be allowed to work during the school term for 10 hours a week
- Students doing a 6-month course or less, are not entitled to bring dependents with them to the UK
- Dependents of students are not permitted to work unless they qualify in their own right under Tier 1 (General) as a highly skilled migrant or as a skilled migrant worker under Tier 2 (General worker, Sportsperson or Minister of Religion).

There is nothing wrong about studying in the UK as long as you can support yourself financially. But if you severely lack funds to support yourself as a student while there, it might not really worth taking the risk. And to think that you’re a Filipino, not even an EU citizen, makes your chances of survival very slim. You would need every miracle you can get.