Delay of certificates: Anna University students fear visa rejection

An inordinate delay in the issue of final semester marksheets and provisional degree completion certificates at Anna University has now put scores of students, who wrote the final examinations in April-May, in a fix. Many of them who had applied for universities abroad for higher studies say that without the provisional certificate, there is fear of their visa applications getting rejected.

Students, especially those of the College of Engineering, Guindy (CEG), who spoke to Express on Monday, said while the examinations were completed in May and results were declared immediately, there was no sign of the final year marksheets and Provisional Certificates (PC).

According to these students, many of whom have applied for admissions in universities in the UK, when they apply for visas, a document called the Confirmation For Acceptance of Studies (CAS) has to be obtained from the respective institutions. This CAS acts as proof that the offer made by the university is “unconditional.” However, most varsities issue this document only after the students provide the provisional degree completion certificate from where they did their under graduation.

“Without this CAS, we cannot even apply for the visas. Because they have not issued the provisional certificate, we are not able to approach the university for the CAS,” said one student of the CEG.

The students said that when they questioned the officials at the Anna University a month ago, they were told that the documents would be issued immediately after the reevaluation process was completed. However, students said though results have been declared for even those who applied for reevaluation, the university was still not issuing the provisional certificates.

Officials at the CEG said that the process of issuing the certificates got delayed owing to issues in the merger of the AUTs with the university in Chennai. “There was confusion prior to the merger on whether the PCs should be issued by the respective AUTs or by the university here,” said one official. When contacted, Vice Chancellor (In Charge), P Kaliraj, said that the PCs were now ready and the students could collect them from the university from Tuesday.