Pakistan Presses UK and Poland to Act on Fake Student Visas
Interior Minister Naqvi met UK and Polish ministers on 8 October and raised fake student visas. No new rule yet. See what students should check before paying.
Pakistan's interior minister met UK and Polish ministers in Islamabad on 8 October 2026 and pushed for joint steps against Pakistanis travelling to the UK on fake student visas. The three sides also agreed to finalise several agreements, including one on mutual legal assistance. No new rule for students has been announced.
That last line matters if you are a student or a parent. The talks are about police and border cooperation between governments. Nothing in the reports changes how you apply for a student visa today.
We could not open the interior ministry's own statement on 8 October, because its website refused our request. Everything below is therefore reported, and we say so in the sources section.
What was reported from the Islamabad meetings
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, with Minister of State Tallal Chaudhry, met a British Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and a Polish minister on 8 October in Islamabad. They discussed illegal migration, drug trafficking and organised crime.
Mr Naqvi is reported to have stressed the need for joint measures to curb the trend of travelling to the UK on fake student visas. The reports describe the sides agreeing to finalise various memorandums of understanding, known as MoUs, at the earliest.
A delegation led by Mr Chaudhry is also reported to be visiting Poland soon. No date has been given.
| Item | Status on 8 October 2026 |
|---|---|
| Meeting in Islamabad | Held, reported on 8 October |
| Fake student visas | Raised by Pakistan with the UK side |
| Mutual legal assistance MoU | To be finalised, no date |
| Visit to Poland | Planned, no date |
| New rule for students | None announced |
No numbers have been given on fake student visas
The reports do not say how many Pakistanis have used fake student visas, how many were refused or deported, or which universities were involved. Treat any figure you see on social media as unconfirmed until the interior ministry or the UK government publishes one.
The phrase also covers more than one problem. It can mean a forged visa, a real visa obtained with a fake offer letter, or a real but worthless course sold by an agent. The meeting reports do not say which problem the minister meant.
That gap is why your own checks matter more than any announcement. A student who verifies the university, the offer and the agent carries less risk than one who relies on a promise.
A mutual legal assistance agreement helps investigators, not students
Mutual legal assistance is an agreement that lets two countries share evidence and help each other in criminal cases. If one is signed, it would help investigators trace visa fraud networks. It would not change student visa rules or fees.
For now it is an intention. MoUs are agreed first and signed later, and the text is not public. We have not seen a draft.
The practical effect, if any, would be slower and quieter than a headline. Police in two countries would find it easier to share records on an agent or a forged document.
What students and families can check this week
Check three things before you pay anyone: that the university can sponsor international students, that the offer and the visa document come from the university itself, and that any agent is on an official register. Do all of it yourself, on official sites.
- Find the university on the official UK sponsor list, not on a link an agent sends.
- Apply to the university directly and keep your own login and emails.
- Ask for the Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) from the university, never from an agent.
- Pay tuition deposits only into the university's own account.
- Apply for the visa yourself on the official government site.
The steps for the UK Student visa from Pakistan list the fee, funds and TB test, and the guide to checking a study abroad agent shows the official registers by country.
How to report a visa fraud in Pakistan
If you paid for a visa or an offer that turns out to be fake, complain to the FIA at once. It takes immigration fraud complaints online, and keeping every receipt and message helps. Do not wait for the agent to return your money.
The FIA online portal has a category for immigration fraud, and the FIA complaint form shows how to fill it. For a job abroad rather than a course, checking an overseas job agency shows the register and the fee limit.
Poland is mentioned in the talks, and some Pakistanis go there to work rather than study. The rules for a Poland work visa are separate from the student route, and a recent scam in Karachi shows why checks matter: two people were arrested over a Canada work visa scam.
What we still do not know
We do not know the text of any MoU, the date of the Poland visit, or whether the UK will change how it checks Pakistani applications. We also do not know whether the interior ministry will publish a fraud figure.
Until the ministry or the UK government publishes a statement, assume nothing about your own visa has changed.
Common questions
Has the UK changed student visa rules for Pakistanis?
No change was reported from these talks. The reports describe cooperation between governments, not a new rule for applicants.
What is a fake student visa?
The reports do not define it. It can mean a forged visa, a visa based on a fake offer letter, or a course sold to students who never attend.
Who met the interior minister on 8 October?
A British Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and a Polish minister, in Islamabad, according to the reports.
What is a mutual legal assistance agreement?
It is an agreement for countries to help each other with evidence and investigations in criminal cases. It is not a visa rule.
Where do I report a visa agent who cheated me?
File a complaint with the FIA, choosing the immigration fraud category, and keep all receipts and chats.
How we verified this
What we checked, where we read it, and what we could not confirm.
Last checked 8 October 2026. The interior minister's meetings with UK and Polish ministers in Islamabad on 8 October, the call for joint measures on fake student visas, the agreement to finalise MoUs including mutual legal assistance and the planned visit to Poland were all reported in the press on 8 October. We tried to read the Ministry of Interior website, interior.gov.pk, on 8 October and it returned an access denied error, so we have not seen the ministry's own statement. The Federal Investigation Agency website, fia.gov.pk, lists its online complaint portal at complaint.fia.gov.pk. No numbers on fake student visas were published in the reports, so we give none. Check the ministry site for its statement before relying on any detail.
About the author
Senior Writer, Public Services and Technology
Shahid joined us in 2024 as an author. He is a senior contributor to Pakistan's leading technology websites. He writes detailed articles, mostly covering his expertise in the latest tech, mobiles, apps, gadgets, and step-by-step guides. His ideology is to help people understand the latest trends and explain complex methods through very easy-to-understand guides.
