Storm over Chinese student visa denial

Dozens of Nigerians offered undergraduate and postgraduate admission into some Chinese universities are said to have been denied visas without valid reasons. This has infuriated a number of parents. Gaining admission into any higher institution in China is one of the yardsticks for obtaining a study visa. Thus, a student visa is given only to […]

Dozens of Nigerians offered undergraduate and postgraduate admission into some Chinese universities are said to have been denied visas without valid reasons. This has infuriated a number of parents.

Gaining admission into any higher institution in China is one of the yardsticks for obtaining a study visa. Thus, a student visa is given only to people who have a confirmed place of study at a registered institution for a set period of time.

However, recent development in respect to many students who had applied for student visa with the Chinese Embassy in Nigeria, has ignited many complains and agitation over unexplained rejection of applications even after students have fulfilled all requirements.

The affected applicants alleged that the Chinese embassy rejected them after spending huge amounts of money to secure admission and payment of other bills.

A parent who spoke to Daily Trust on anonymously, said his son’s student visa application was rejected four times in a month without any reason given by the embassy.

According to him, he spent about N2 million on admission and visa processing. “We have managed to secure admission from Rui Jin University in China and we have also received what is known as JW which is a form generated by a Chinese university upon admission acceptance which will guarantee the applicant a visa from any Chinese embassy across the world.

“Similarly, we have fulfilled all the requirements to be invited for a visa interview, we went and after all was done, we were told that our visa application is rejected. That was all we were told after all we have done,” he lamented.

He said he paid all the application fees required and the only refund he got was N14, 000 out of N31,500 visa fee he paid.

The father of another affected applicants said his son spent over N1 million to secure admission into Shanyang Agricultural University China but couldn’t get a visa after several interviews conducted in the Chinese Embassy, Abuja. He added that, no genuine reason was given for his son’s visa application rejection.

Another applicant said he was still going to give it another try after two attempts. According to him, after securing admission into Nanchang Hangkong University in China to study civil engineering, he received his JW and travelled to Lagos as he was told that it was easier there than in Abuja where he applied initially, but even in Lagos the story remained the same as he was rejected with no reason.

Another applicant who had applied to study at Tianjin Agricultural University China along with eight others couldn’t get a study visa after many attempts, even though they have acquired all the necessary documents.

“We couldn’t get the visa even though we have fulfilled all the requirements, in fact some of us are going for their second degrees in the same university and the university has offered us admission but the embassy kept telling us that our visa applications were rejected; by who or for what reason? No one is willing to tell us,” he said

All the affected students and parents spoken to pleaded with the authorities concerned to look into the issue.

However, an official at the Chinese Embassy in Abuja said there are few cases of rejection because some applicants may not have proper qualifications.

“There must be a few students who are not qualified to get visa. We welcome Nigerian students to study in China but we need to understand that some may not have the proper qualifications. We have our regulations and follow them to the letter,” the official said.