Students criticise procedures in Aliens Office

FOREIGN students have complained about unfriendly staff, excessive documentation and unclear procedures when they register as aliens in Ireland, according "to a survey.

Almost 40 per cent of overseas medical students in the survey described their experience of dealing with the Aliens Office as unsatisfactory or very unsatisfactory.

Most complaints centred on the slow process and small size of the room in which applications are handled.

The main disadvantage to studying in Ireland was the high cost of living, though 57 per cent of students mentioned the poor selection of ethnic foods as a problem. However, most respondents to the survey felt the level of integration between foreign and Irish students was good.

The number of foreign students in the five Irish medical schools has grown sharply over the past year, according to the survey published in Issues in International Education, which was launched by the Irish Council for Overseas Students yesterday.

In 1994, there were 1,061 foreign medical students in Ireland, of which more than 400 came from Malaysia and 137 from Singapore. Most came to Ireland as a second choice, after the UK.

The Irish universities operate a consortium for attracting overseas students, who pay full economic fees of more than £12,000 a year to the State. According to Mr Con O'Brien, assistant registrar of UCC, the business is worth an estimated £10 million a year in direct revenue and a further £10 million generated from living expenses.

However, according to the survey, overseas students felt the literature they were provided with was not designed with their needs in mind, was often overloaded with information, written in complex language and appeared dull.