Border Agency Clamps Down On Student Visas

The UK Border Agency is increasing the number of face-to-face interviews with Pakistanis hoping to study in Britain after an initial investigation found that many could not speak English.

All Pakistanis will be interviewed as part of measures being trialled to crack down on bogus applications, it has been disclosed.

The new "credibility test" is expected to double the number of visa rejections.

The increased scrutiny has been calculated to boost the refusal rate from 20% to more than 40%, according to a government source.

The move follows a Border Agency pilot scheme conducted in countries such as Bangladesh, India, Egypt, Pakistan and Nigeria.

The news comes just days after the agency was criticised by MPs over its failure to deport foreign criminals .

The pilot scheme findings apparently suggested that a large proportion of would-be student candidates could not speak English well enough to qualify.

The source said using face-to-face interviews instead of the existing paper-based system had been particularly effective in Pakistan, uncovering reasons for rejection in 43% of applications.

Sky News correspondent Niall Paterson said: "On the face on it, this is a very good news story for the Government, a very good news story for the UK Border Agency.

"Complete coincidence of course that this takes place in a week in which the Home Affairs Select Committee released a report which said the UKBA was unable to fill its most basic functions."

Paterson said this story reveals that the UKBA's "checks and balances have not been working in perhaps as many as one in five cases, at least from Pakistan".

The new checks will be piloted initially to gain further evidence about their effectiveness.

Read more on the UK Border Agency:

Border Agency 'Failing To Deport Criminals'

Airport Gridlock Amid Staff Shortages

MPs' Fury Over Bogus Student Border Blunders

Border Agency Split In Two Over Checks Row