None of the students enrolled in courses in a Dublin-based English-language college that closed yesterday were registered with the college’s UK-based accreditation body, the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (Inis) has said.
The revelation comes following the closure yesterday of Millennium College in Dublin, which provided English-language courses to foreign students.
Affected students were made aware of the closure yesterday morning when a note was posted on the door of the college.
It said the board had decided to cease trading with immediate effect due to “financial crises” arising from its removal from a register of approved colleges.
It was one of four institutions suspended from issuing new visas and residence permits to students from outside the European economic area by Inis in mid-April.
This followed an undercover investigation by the Sunday Times newspaper, which named three international language schools that allegedly agreed to falsify attendance records for students to allow them to work longer hours in contravention of their student visa terms.
A spokesman for Inis said yesterday that, following the allegations, it conducted an inspection of the college, where it discovered that attendance records prior to February 18th were missing.
Subsequently, inquiries with UK accreditation body EDI, which accredited the English language programmes at the college, found that “no students had ever been registered with EDI by Millennium College on any of its accredited programmes”.
Immigration records
This contrasts with immigration authorities' records, which record about 300 students as currently attending EDI programmes.
About 30 students gathered outside the Millennium College building on Lower Dominick Street yesterday afternoon, most of whom had paid between €950 and €1,500 for 12-month courses.
However, Lucia Bonaiuto from Venezuela said she and her boyfriend had paid €8,250 each due to restrictions on legal currency exchanges in her home country. “It’s not fair for us,” she said. “We paid the course . . . We are in a bad situation now without a course, without money.”
A spokesman for Inis said yesterday that it was giving “a breathing space” to students of Eden College, Irish Business School and Millennium College Dublin with valid visas and permits.
“There is no immediate threat to students’ immigration status. All current permissions remain intact,” he said.
Attempts to contact the chief executive of the Millennium College, Rezaul Haque, were unsuccessful yesterday.
