LTV Uncovers University Visa Risks: A Gateway to Europe?

Data obtained by the LatvianTtelevision programme "De Facto" shows that in 2024, the proportion of visa refusals among students invited by the Riga Nordic University (formerly ISMA) reached 31%, meaning that almost one in three was denied entry. The programme also found that this university most often becomes a "second stop" for foreign students who are changing universities. The Information Systems Management Academy, or ISMA, which has now changed its name to Riga Nordic University, is one of the private universities with a large number of foreign students, but at the same time, it has a significantly high rate of visa refusals. Data from the Ministry of Education and Science (IZM) show that the rate of refusals at large universities (Rīga Technical University, University of Latvia, Riga Stradiņš University) in 2024 is relatively low (around 5-6%). In contrast, it is significantly higher at some private educational institutions. The rejection rate at the Baltic International Academy (BSA) in 2024 was 23.5%, while at Riga Nordic University it was 31%. Moreover, this university has had a high rejection rate for a long time: over the last six years, it has not been below 30%, reaching 54% in 2020. However, Andrejs Cinis, Vice-Rector for Administrative Affairs at the university, told the program that he had not seen such data and expressed his opinion on rejections: "If we look at the main countries of interest – Uzbekistan and India – we calculated that we had an 11% rejection rate for one and a 9% rejection rate for the other. (..) Overall, we cannot say, because the process is ongoing." The data compiled by De Facto highlights another specific trend – Riga Nordic University often becomes a "second stop" for foreign students who change educational institutions. Of all foreign students who changed universities in the previous academic year (165 people), 134 transferred to Riga Nordic University. A similar picture can be seen in the data on students who, after being expelled, began studying at another institution: in the statistics for the last three months, the majority of this group (19 out of 30) ended up at Riga Nordic University. Andrejs Cinis commented on this situation as follows: "I admit that such situations exist. Well, if it is legal to accept them, why shouldn't we accept them?" When a university expels a foreign student and requests that their visa be revoked, it takes about a month for the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs to make a decision. During this time, the student can enrol in another university—the law allows this once. Imants Bergs, head of the Higher Education Export Association, emphasises that this rule should be changed: "If a student is expelled from university X in order to enrol at university Y, he or she must first return home and then start the whole process from the beginning." Last year, the State Security Service pointed out systemic shortcomings, emphasising that entry requirements are easy to circumvent, which creates security risks. Meanwhile, General Guntis Pujāts, head of the State Border Guard, pointed to obvious quality risks in the selection of candidates: "There are a number of people who, upon entry, we have found to have virtually no knowledge of English. So how will they study in Latvia?" Both the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Education and Science are planning measures to prevent abuse of the system and to increase the responsibility of higher education institutions. For example, there are plans to restrict the entry of family members of students into Latvia. Currently, according to PMLP data, approximately 7,100 third-country students and 81 of their family members have the right to reside in the country. There are plans to assess the knowledge and English language skills of prospective students more strictly, as well as to require first-year students to provide financial security for their possible return in the event of their residence permit being revoked. Universities will be required to expel students who are absent from classes for 10 days without justification. Currently, the border guard must be notified if a student is absent from classes for 14 days. Dimitrijs Trofimovs, State Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior, emphasised in a broadcast that the actions of universities should be evaluated on their merits, not just formally, and, if necessary, decisions should also be made "on the rights of individual organisations to implement study programmes."