- Education consultant – now released – arrested over alleged mishandling of student’s £4,000 tuition deposit at Teesside University
- Authorities claim that the company did not submit the student’s visa in time, causing them to lose out on their deposit after they could not attend
- The PIE understands that the consultancy only offers guidance on processing and submitting applcations, rather than doing this on students’ behalf
- Sector rallies around consultant, calling for more lenient refund processes from UK universities
According to legal documents seen by The PIE News, Wasil Azad, the owner of IEIS Consultants, was arrested by Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) last week after it was alleged his company had mishandled the visa processing of a UK student visa application. Two other members of staff at the company were named by the authorities as being involved in the case.
The PIE spoke to the education consultant who shared that he provided the tuition payment link but expected the student to submit their own visa documentation. When a deadline was missed, the student became aggrieved that a deposit was not swiftly offered, and blamed the consultancy.
The documents alleged that under the company’s guidance, a £4,000 deposit from the student’s family was made to Teesside University via an online payment link in May 2025. However, the papers claimed that it was the company that did not submit the visa application within the deadline that had been given, meaning that the student could not travel to the UK and lost their deposit.
Highlighting an ongoing concern around a university position on refunding deposits, the FIA first information report stated that “the amount of £4,000 became non-refundable, thereby causing financial loss to the complainant”.
A university spokesperson at Teesside University confirmed to The PIE that it issues refunds until a CAS is issued when the student is accepted. However the spokesperson did not confirm the details of this particular case, which happened in 2025. The PIE is hoping for further clarification.
“Our policy towards the return of deposits is clear and well-defined, and aligned to UKVI expectations,” said the spokesperson.
Press reports of the story published in Pakistan indicate the deposit amount, to the tune of Rs1.6 million, was “recovered” during Azad’s arrest. Azad has now been released, with a LinkedIn post written by him requesting that UK universities “understand… what difficult circumstances their partners work in third world countries”, and urging them to refund deposits for students who are unable to attend.
The case has raised wider questions around who should ultimately be financially liable for students’ tuition fee deposits – particularly as an immigration crackdown in the UK results in surging visa refusal rates for high-risk markets, including Pakistan.
Stakeholders in Pakistan have rallied around Azad, condemning his arrest and doubling down on his request for UK universities to refund international tuition fee deposits where necessary.
Kousar Sahrif, CEO at Nextage Consultants, told The PIE that that she “strongly condemned” Azar’s detention. “If Teesside University has refused the refund under its own refund policy, holding an education consultant responsible cannot change the university’s decision,” she said.
“Students must also read and understand the university’s refund policy before paying their tuition fees,” she added.
Students must also read and understand the university’s refund policy before paying their tuition fees
Kousar Sharif, Nextage Consultants
Kinza Eman, business development executive and branch operations supervisor at ConnectedHE, said it was “high time” that the industry was ‘straightforward and transparent about such situations”, continuing that “unless fraud is involved, withholding student refunds is simply unfair and unjust”.
Kawaja Ismail, founder chairman at Crownwell Consultants, said that they had “faced almost the same situation in the past”, where a student’s fee was withheld and they were forced to repay the lost deposit to avoid trouble with the FIA – despite the student signing and agreeing to the university’s refund policy.
“The lesson for us is that we need to deal with universities very carefully and wisely to avoid such situations in the future,” said Ismail. “We are with you and fully support you in this matter,” they added, addressing Azad.
Aamir Ghafoor, CEO of ES Global, said: “As recruitment partners working closely with students, we see first-hand the financial and emotional challenges students and their families can face when circumstances prevent them from travelling. Student welfare, transparency, and fair treatment should always be at the core of international education.”
Agents are bearing the brunt of reprisals from students disgruntled over witheld tuition deposits. In April, an agent in Northern Pakistan was threatened with a gun by a student whose deposit was witheld after they were refused a study visa.
