AN average of 150 students are offloaded from aircraft every month for neglecting to obtain a travel clearance while still serving the terms of their scholarships under the Tertiary Scholarship and Loans Service (TSLS) scheme.
Speaking at the handover ceremony of Travel and Bond Clearance and Recoveries in Suva yesterday, TSLS CEO Hasmukh Lal said despite knowing that they needed to submit a travel clearance to go overseas, TSLS students try to “cheat the system” by being negligent.
“All scholarship offers that we give to the students, it’s very clear in black and white that if they have to travel during the period of their scholarship, they need to obtain a travel clearance,” Mr Lal said. Fiji Revenue and Customs Service CEO Udit Singh advised that more awareness should be made so that students won’t have to be offloaded at the airport.
“I think there are probably some requirements for more awareness to make sure formalities are completed at least four or five days before they travel so that they don’t get caught up at the border,” Mr Singh added.
Mr Lal also confirmed that travel and bond clearances would no longer be emailed to students, immigration and border control teams at the airport; instead, they will use the Travel and Bond Clearance Portal which allows for a seamless application process.
“This new portal will send the approval directly to students’ accounts on the portal which they could access on their mobile phones,” he said.
“Immigration officials and the border control team will have viewing access on the portal. This will eliminate the need for students and graduates to print and carry the approval with them.”
