Visa-refused students owed €60k by rogue Irish ELT schools

The Irish Council for International Students (ICOS) received complaints from more than 30 prospective international students, some of whom have been waiting up to a year to receive refunds for program fees, totalling some €60,000. It remains unclear which schools the students had been planning to attend.

Meanwhile, the Irish peak body for ELT providers has been at pains to stress that the “vast majority” of English language schools in the country uphold the correct standards and process refunds in a timely manner.

Under the Department of Justice’s regulations, English language schools in Ireland are required to refund course fees within 20 days of a visa refusal.

People from non-EEA countries are obliged to pay course fees upfront before they can apply for an Irish study visa.

The majority of the prospective students who contacted ICOS are from developing countries, including Cambodia and Colombia, it said. The program fees could be worth between six to 12 months of their annual salary.

While ICOS said it is aware of 30 students owed a combined total of more than €60,000 in unpaid refunds, it believes the true scale of the problem is likely to be significantly higher.

Brian Hearne, ICOS’ policy and communications manager, said: “It is unacceptable that, following a visa refusal, prospective international students are left waiting months, and in some cases nearly a year, for refunds that should be issued within 20 days. This not only causes financial hardship, but also damages Ireland’s reputation as a fair and welcoming place to study.”

He added that international students should be “treated fairly and protected from the moment they make a payment to an education provider”.

Hearn said that there must be “robust government-led oversight” to make sure this happens, and urged the Department of Justice to investigate the cases it has raised.

Ireland’s reputation as a welcoming destination depends on treating prospective students with fairness and transparency from the very first interaction
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For its part, English Education Ireland expressed its concern over these cases, saying that the schools in question are not members of the organisation, and that “this situation is not representative of the standards upheld by our members”.

“The vast majority of providers in this sector operate to high standards, hold student fees correctly, and process refunds promptly,” it added. “Ireland’s reputation as a welcoming destination depends on treating prospective students with fairness and transparency from the very first interaction.

It said that it looked forward to the full implementation of TrustEd Ireland – a government-backed quality marker for education providers in Ireland.

“TrustEd has a statutory footing and that is to be welcomed. But questions remain as to how compliance will be monitored and policed once TrustEd is fully established,” it said “Statutory powers are only meaningful if they are used. We would urge Government to set out clearly how enforcement will operate under the new regime before the ILEP is wound down.”

The ILEP (Interim List of Eligible Programs) is the Department of Justice’s current regulatory framework governing English language schools that recruit non-EEA students. Schools must be listed on it to accept international students requiring study visas.

TrustEd forms part of a wider legislative framework designed to protect international students, and will ultimately replace ILEP – meaning providers without the mark will no longer be able to recruit non-EU/EEA/Swiss students requiring study visas.

However, ICOS said it understood that some of the schools who had failed to pay refunds to affected students may be in the process of applying to TrustEd Ireland, although it said it could not confirm this.

Ireland has long been a hub for the ELT sector – with students from all over the world flocking to the country, now the largest English-speaking country in the EU, to learn English and immerse themselves in Ireland’s rich culture.

The Irish international education market is booming, with a recent surge in interest from Indian and US students helping to drive record enrolments in the 2024/25 academic year.

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