The four biggest destinations for international education – the US, the UK, Canada and Australia – have traditionally been the most popular places students flock to for their education.
Also known as the ‘big four’, each of these destinations welcome hundreds of thousands of international students every year. Each country has introduced processes to keep tabs on international students who don’t enrol onto their program after accepting an offer, as governments and institutions combat visa fraud by individuals falsely claiming student status.
Most recently, Canadian institutions have been in the hot seat after accusations that human traffickers were using Canadian study visas to smuggle Indian nationals across the border into the US. The sinister plot was investigated after a Gujarati family of four tragically lost their lives on the Canadian-US border when they tried to use the illegal route.
The fake international students never turned up to the institutions for which they had accepted an offer. But some of the roughly 260 Canadian institutions unwittingly involved in the scheme even refunded tuition fees to the individuals’ accounts, according to India’s financial law enforcement agency.
So, given that Canadian institutions are obligated to report their number of no-shows to the IRCC twice a year, how were these fake students able to slip through the net? Here, The PIE News examines the steps institutions in the country have to follow, as well as similar protocols in the other big four study destinations.
Canada
Since November 2024, all designated learning institutions (DLIs) in Canada have had to report on the enrolment status of their students twice a year, once in November and again in March.
But even with the new rules, Canada’s reporting requirements are the least strict of the big four.
A compliance report must be submitted to the government within 60 days of one being requested, and DLIs are obligated to correct or add further details within 10 days of any requests for a compliance update on an individual student.
Failure to comply with the new, stricter protocols can result in serious consequences for DLIs – including a warning or a suspension of up to 12 months, during which no new study permits for the institution will be processed.
However, upon receiving a notice of preliminary findings – sent to a DLI when it fails to submit a compliance report – the institution has 30 days to write back and explain why it was not able to meet its obligations. This might include the DLI’s assurances that it has acted in good faith or that it had “made all reasonbable efforts” to comply.
If a DLI needs an extension, it can write to the government to ask for one. A maximum extension of 30 days may be granted if the DLI can show that “exceptional circumstances” had stopped it from making submissions on time.
United States
In comparison, US institutions must report students who have failed to enrol on their program of study within 30 days of its start date.
New international students must report to their designated school official (DSO) within 30 days of their program starting, while continuing students must report to their DSO within 30 days of the next session start date.
Within this timeframe, the DSO must update the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) with whether or not the student has enrolled, and terminate the record as “failure to enrol” if they fail to show up at the institution.
Institutions that fail to comply with the rules can face harsh sanctions, including fines, suspension or even removal of the school’s SEVIS certification and access.
Schools should keep close tabs on international students’ enrolment status and report any changes on the SEVIS system.
Australia
Similarly, Australian institutions are obligated to report a student’s failure to commence their course to the Department of Home Affairs via the Provider Registration and International Student Management System (PRISMS) within 31 days.
Failure to do so can result in the institution being fined, suspended or revoked of its ability to enrol international students.
United Kingdom
In the UK, the timeframe for reporting no-shows is even stricter than the US and Australia.
Institutions must monitor the enrolment status and attendance records of any international student sponsored under the Student and Child Student routes.
If a sponsored student does not enrol on their chosen program, the institution has to report this to UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) within 10 days of the institution becoming aware of this.
Similarly, if an international student doesn’t attend expected contact points on their program without prior permission, the institution must also report this to UKVI within 10 working days.
Failure to comply with these requirements can result in suspension for an institution’s sponsored license being revoked, meaning their ability to enrol international students will be severely hampered.
