3,000 banks put on visa blacklist

The Government has put almost 3,000 banks from all over the world on a blacklist of institutions that cannot be trusted to verify documents for student visa applications.

The UK Border Agency (UKBA) has revealed that the list includes 1,977 financial institutions in India and 762 in the Philippines.

It is part of the Government's plans to prevent an influx of bogus students. As part of the initiative, individual students, who claim to have funds to support themselves but use any of the banks on the list, will receive no points for maintenance.

Meanwhile, studying has been pinpointed as the biggest reason for migrants heading to Britain, with 228,000 of those who arrived at British educational institutions last year being from outside the EU.

A UKBA spokeswoman said: "We have radically overhauled the student visa system in order to tackle abuses whilst continuing to attract the brightest and best genuine students from across the world.

"We need to be confident that those applying for student visas have the funds to support themselves and pay for their course in the UK."

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