Hyderabad: The Bureau of Immigration (BoI) at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA), which is commonly known as Hyderabad airport, has found cases of students using fake degrees to clear UK and US visa interviews.
According to a report in TOI, in the past two weeks, four cases have been uncovered where students obtained visas using fake degrees.
Checks at Hyderabad airport revealed fraud
The fraud was revealed by BoI personnel while the students, who had already cleared UK and US visa interviews, were departing.
In recent days, the first case was detected on June 1 when it was found that a 28-year-old Pakeeru Gopal Reddy from Nalgonda District obtained a US student visa using an alleged forged BSc (computers) degree from Madurai Kamraj University.
In the case, it was found that the fake degree was obtained from an educational consultant.
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Not just US, students clear UK visa interviews
The fraud is not limited to students aiming to study in the US. Some students are also using fake degrees to clear UK student visa interviews.
In the past two weeks, Hyderabad airport caught three students who had cleared UK visa interviews using fake degrees and were about to depart for the foreign country.
On June 9, a 26-year-old Mohammad Shahabazuddin was caught by immigration officials when he was about to travel to London.
They found that his B.Tech certificate from JNTU Hyderabad was counterfeit. Upon further verification, it was found that his Intermediate marks memo was also fake.
During the investigation, it was also revealed that the student possessed a fake B.Com degree from Nagarjuna University. These fake certificates were submitted to secure the UK student visa.
On June 10, another student, Mohammed Azhar Hussain, was stopped from boarding a flight to the UK via Dubai for obtaining fake certificates from a university in Jharkhand.
A 26-year-old Srikanth Mrthala from Guntur was also held on June 12 for obtaining a fake B.Tech degree by paying Rs 40,000 to an agent.
In view of the rise in cases of fake degrees being used to obtain visas for the UK, US, and other countries, Hyderabad airport officials may intensify checks for those who have cleared student visa interviews.
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