Over 700 TVU students yet to be relocated

More than a year after the Tri-Valley University scam came to light,over 700 Indian students are still bearing the brunt. Shut down by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on charges of immigration fraud on January 19,2011,some 1,800 students were enrolled at the university as in January 2011; of these nearly 95 per cent were from India mainly Andhra Pradesh.

A year later,statistics furnished by the US authorities reveal that only 766 cases of Indian students of the TVU were approved for transfer to other universities while 480 are pending for scrutiny and 281 have been denied transfer. The Embassy of India at Washington DC is in touch with US Department of Homeland Security to ensure that the pending transfer cases are considered in a sympathetic manner.

The HRD Ministry said the central government strongly conveyed to the US agencies that the students,themselves a victim of fraud,should not be penalised and held responsible for violations committed by the university. The government requested that there should be no mass termination of visas of the affected students,so that they do not go out of status,and affected students should be given adequate time for transfer to other universities or voluntarily return to India,without prejudice.

The government has also taken up the issue of such universities with the US government to protect the interests of the Indian students.

Eighteen Indian students were initially detained and subsequently released with radio monitoring devices at their ankles.