Hari Timilsina´s dream of studying abroad was shattered when his visa application was rejected in June.

Timilsina, 21, then planned to apply elsewhere after getting the 4,040 Euros he paid Shelbourne College refunded. Originally from Pokhara, he has been waiting desperately for the last six months to get back his money. He had paid the college before applying for his visa.

As per the Irish student visa system, non-European Union students, including those from Nepal, are obliged to first pay their fees to the approved colleges in order to study in Ireland.

"I could neither go to Ireland nor get my money back. My worst nightmare seems to have come true," he said. "I was ready to put up with anything if I had a chance to study in Ireland."

Timilsina had taken loans from friends to pay the college fees and he has been paying regular interest for the last six months. "I have already paid Rs.10,000 in interest," he added.

Like Timilsina, other 22 students from Pokhara and Kathmandu are yet to get their money refunded after their visas ware rejected around June-July. All of them had sought to study in Ireland through Ivory Edu Care Pvt. Ltd., which says "it has been trying its best to get the money back".
The victims, however, place all the blame on the owner of the educational consultancy, Nabin Kumar Shahi.

"It is Nabin Shahi who persuaded us to apply for Ireland and so he should get our money back at any cost. Sometimes I feel that Nabin himself is involved in duping us," said another student, requesting anonymity. He had applied for a business course at the same college.

The other students who applied to study at Shelbourne College are Bhagat Rajbanshi, Subha Raj, Pradeep Gurung, Sujata Thapa, Ganga Bahadur Parajuli, Hem Raj Acharya, Shree Ram Acharya, Subash Thapa, Sunita Tamang Moktan, Ashmit Khadka, Sabin Maharjan, Chetan Thapa, Shobha Khadka, Sangam Pandit, Sagar Prasad Pokharel, Kalpana Gurung, Bharat Kumar Regmi, Jeevan Baral, Anil Thapa, Sujan BK, Bishal Nepali and Amber Khadka.

Meanwhile, some of the students have already left for the Gulf for work as they got tired of waiting to recover their money.

Shelbourne College has remained closed since November and it owes the Nepali students more than 90,000 Euros.

Nabin Shahi, who is currently in Ireland, told Republica over the phone that he is trying to contact the college representatives to get the students´ money reimbursed.

"The college representatives are out of contact but I am still trying my best find them out," he said, adding, "They are playing a game with me." He also added that he would go to court in Ireland and fight the case."

source: republica,4 dec 2014