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.
I hope a lot of sensible people will see this post. Some Consultancies offer nothing but empty words and business talks that people are lured. Some Consultancy fees are so expensive and non refundable. In reality people never really get their money’s worth because you are paying so much for them to use the internet and to email the school that you applied for- a very simple task that can be done by almost everyone.
People please do not believe these earn and learn crap if you are not really rich to afford to study in UK/Canada or Australia. You can search the internet about the news, the strict regulations, their policies and blogs and the lived experiences of students who are actually there and suffering. Please think about it and ask a lot of people who really know before it’s too late.
Well said, Lady.
We all know that this is bad stuff and all that crap.. but if you stay long here in the Philippines, your pay would be so little that you will soon quit your job and join callcenter.. No matter what you say lady it aint gonna stop Filipinos to go there. As Filipinos like to bring home the bacon.
About the UK Student visa:
But would the UK embassy grant you a student visa even you seem to be just an average Filipino or even poor? Like for example, your family only has a small business, and your bank account is only around 500,000 pesos.
Because for Australia, Australian Embassy would turn you down right away if it appears that there’s a chance that you wouldn’t be able to support yourself as a student there eventually, like after a year or so.
So in UK, they will surely grant you the student visa right away, and make you suffer there if you are not that affluent?
I just want to compare.
Thank you!
Hi, Marisse. The British immigration, in my experience, is very strict. They normally require lots of paper work to prove that a student can really support himself there. But we have shrewd recruiters who know how to get away with this. They would advise clients to borrow money from relatives and deposit it in a bank account, or connive with a local business owner to fake a document that would support the education of a worker. The student suffers while the recruiter enjoys sipping pina colada in a resort.
that’s right… i have applied for a student visa way back november 2009. but at the midst
of the interview i turn back because of this uneasy feeling… a nurse that has been
working there in uk told me that its very difficult to get a job there and working hours is
limited. if one of you is planning or interested in applying for student visa under
student-work program must read, ask, and think if its beneficial to you.
I’m really planning to go there by next year through a student visa.. is it really that hard to get a job there?
Before I make a comment, let me say that I am a PINOY and I am unfortunately under a student visa and this comment is by no means a sentiment to pull down other Pinoy’s hopes or discourage them. So here goes the facts and the awful truth to consider:
A. Tuition fee is 10,000 for a 2 year HNC/HND course (it could be lower by 2500 if you’ve already one semester in the Phils… but 7500 is still no pocket change).
B. Working hours allowed effective July 4, 2011 is ONLY 10 hours per week and don’t anybody say that you can get more hours because every hour you work is being monitored by the UKBA through your National Insurance payment which is automatically deducted from the salary your receiving. So if you work like a horse and take in 15 or 40 more hours, ding ding ding…. the UKBA is on your trail.
C. Cash to cash employment is very scarce and frankly i haven’t even encountered it myself. Its the kind of work that they don’t report your hours and your salary to the government and they just pay you by the hour. But honestly, its hard enough to find legal work, where on earth will you find that kind of set up.
D. Cost of living: this is my honest to goodness calculation of life in the UK (and I live in a capital city)
ROOM OR SHARED ACCOMODATION – minimum of 120 maximum of 150 pounds per month
FOOD – i consider myself a light eater so id say 10 pounds per week so thats 40 per month and thats really strapping the belt.
BUS FARE – regardless on whether you live 10 steps away from school, you still have to spend for bus transportation and that will set you back for a good 1.30 – 1.50 per ride. If you’re a student, you can get a buss pass which will cost 40 pounds per month and that will take you anywhere with in the city bounds and unlimited ride as well.
TUITION – 10,000 or 7,500 for the whole course.
WORKING CONDITION and PAY – this is the catch, 10 hours per week at minimum of 6.20 per hour (and thats not even tax deducted yet) will fetch you 62 per 10 hours. Saturdays and sundays are included in your 10 hours. the exception will only be during the holidays which you don’t get every month and its not even a month long. So given this 62 per week x 4 weeks in a month = 248 per month subtract this from the above expenses and you don’t really need a calculator to figure it out.
E. UKBA – the very time you exceed your hours and not report to your school, the immigration will be on your case. Others may say they won’t mind you because others have done it before you and they’re still around, but would you really take that risk? Do you feel comfortable working (illegally) and knowing that one day while your washing dishes, or hovering the carpet or ironing clothes, UKBA men will come barging in to your work place and arrest you on the spot and deport you with nothing but the shirt on your back? Ask yourself that!
F. POST STUDY WORK VISA is already abolished so say goodbye to your hopes of working mad to pay off your debts.
G. SPONSORSHIP – Some will say that as soon as they get here, they will find somebody who can hire them and sponsor them for employment and change their student visa to working visa…. FORGET it!! thats not gonna happen to ALL if not MOST of you. SO not unless you’re assured of such, don’t rely on it.
Again, let me REITERATE I’m not discouraging you folks. Although my words may say otherwise but there’s really no other way to say it. If you think you wanna take the chance and strike it rich then by all means do so.. not all of us share the same fate so you might be the lucky exception. These are just mere hard and terrible facts which all if not most Pinoys with student visas are facing. I wont be the least bit surprised if you’ll be on the next plane back to the Philippines because I’ve met some whose stayed for a year and theres even one who stayed for a week. Still others have gone to London and went into hiding. The choice is yours, the facts are laid down before you.