Three Mongolian agencies that work with English language schools in Ireland have told the Department of Justice that more than 250 young people in Mongolia are struggling to recoup sums of up to €3,100 each owed to them by six schools operating here.
In a complaint sent last week, they called on the department to take immediate steps to resolve a situation which they say is causing significant financial hardship to the students and their families, and is negatively impacting the reputation and credibility of Ireland's international education sector.
They say the situation "raises serious concerns regarding compliance with fair practice, student protection, and institutional accountability".
Separately, one young Algerian man said that he has spent the past 14 months attempting to secure a refund of €2,177 from a Limerick-based school after his study visa application was refused in January 2025.
Prospective students must pay fees to a school first, before applying to the State for a study visa.
The schools are obliged to hold these fees in an escrow or protected bank account until a visa has been approved and to return the funds within 20 working days in the case of a refusal.
Students can only travel to Ireland if their visa is approved.
None of the students owed refunds have ever entered Ireland. While their money was sent here, they have not left their home countries.
Djamel Eddine Kedadra has yet to secure a refund from Student Campus school in Limerick despite numerous requests via email and WhatsApp since late January 2025.
RTÉ News has seen copious correspondence between Djamel and the school in which he requests and pleads for a refund.
In one WhatsApp message, from September of last year, he writes: "All I ask for if you have some heart left is to please give me my money back even if it’s partial."
In an email sent to him in April of last year, the school blamed the delay on "an exceptionally high volume of visa refusals from Algeria and Morocco", which had led to "an unprecedented number of refund requests".
A year on, the school has yet to refund Djamel the €2,177.15 that it owes him.
On 10 April of this year, the school wrote to him: "We acknowledge receipt of your email and bank details.
"The information is being send (sic) by next week to proceed with the payment plan."
But Djamel has yet to receive his refund.
In correspondence this week to RTÉ News, the school said: "We’re reviewing to identify any students with outstanding refunds from that period and to clear any backlog as a priority."
Djamal contacted RTÉ News after reading an RTÉ News report last week on the difficulties that students were having in securing refunds.
"I recently read your article about students waiting for refunds from English language schools in Limerick, and I honestly felt very relieved and hopeful when I saw it. I realised that I am currently in the exact same situation," he wrote.
"It’s devastating for me," he said in a Zoom interview with RTÉ News this week, "the fact that I have to beg the school for my money".
Djamel works as a land surveyor in Algeria. He supplements his income by also working as a video editor.
Of the €2,540 that he paid, he said: "I live in a country where I have to work a full eight months just to reach this amount. I mean, not touching a single penny.
"When I applied, it was in the contract that they would refund [if visa application was unsuccessful], but they have ignored this. If I knew that I’m not going to get a refund, I would have never applied."
'I just want to move on from this and get my money back. I don't even want to apply again'
Djamel broke down as he described his latest correspondence with the college, how it promised to pay the money, but, again, nothing happened.
Wiping away tears, he said: "I’m sorry. I did not mean to cry. It’s very frustrating for me."
Djamel is one of two students who have contacted RTÉ News, both owed refunds by Student Campus.
The second student, in Brazil, has been waiting for almost a year.
On Tuesday, he received an email addressed to "Dear Student".
It stated: "We understand that many students are awaiting updates regarding their requests, and we sincerely acknowledge the time that has passed.
"Currently, the school is managing a significantly increased volume of enquiries and refund-related requests following a high number of visa refusals issued by the Department of Justice.
"While visa decisions are made solely by the relevant authorities and not determined by the institution, the resulting volume has substantially impacted internal administrative operations."
The email promised "further updates and clarity regarding next steps by the end of May".
It signed off with "Kind regards, Student Campus Financial Solution Team".
Mongolia
One of the three Mongolian agencies that have submitted a complaint to the Department of Justice regarding refunds owed by a total of six schools here, Actra LLS, said that it has 93 students owed fees.
Last week, one of those students wrote to the school, that he says, owes him €2,321.25.
"This tuition payment was made through loans. I am now facing significant financial difficulty, as these loans remain unpaid," he wrote.
The students in Mongolia have been waiting since the start of this year for their refunds.
That school wrote to students in Mongolia last week saying it was "committed to refunding your tuition".
"Our Finance Department will contact you individually in the coming days to provide your specific receipt showing exactly how much we received, along with the date this amount will be transferred back to you," it continued.
However, it went on to state that "additionally, we need you to confirm the status of your visa appeal process following your initial negative outcome, as this is a standard required step".
Actra LLS said that the requirement that students appeal a visa refusal, as a precondition to a fees refund, was introduced into this school's refund policy only this month.
Two weeks ago, Actra LLS wrote to this school to complain about "significant delays in the processing of student tuition refunds" and warning that it would submit a complaint to the Irish authorities should the school fail to address the issue.
Four days later, it wrote again, stating that "due to the continued lack of communication and progress" it felt it had no alternative.
Later that day, a solicitor acting for the school replied.
"Our client has noted the threat to its good name and reputation by the proposed submission of a position paper to the regulatory authority.
"This, in our view, would entitle our client to act against any such parties in the protection of its good name and business. We would caution against any such ill-advised move," the email stated.
"Our client has also instructed us to further advise that it is terminating the contract with your agency," it continued.
Speaking from Mongolia, manager with Actra LLS Bayartungalag Batkhuyag appealed to the Irish authorities to help the Mongolian students.
"Irish authorities, please help our students to get their money back. It's their money, please help us," she said.
Refund obligations
Last month, the Irish Immigration Service wrote to the colleges reminding them of their obligations to have systems in place to provide refunds for students who are refused a visa to travel to Ireland.
That letter stated: "We are seeing evidence of an increase in requests from refused visa applicants seeking their refunds from ILEP listed Providers, some of these who are very concerned and worried about the delays they are experiencing.
"The Arrangements Applying to English Language Programmes (updated March 2025), clearly state the following: For handling of advance payments dependent on the visa application process, ILEP Providers must operate an escrow/delayed payment account with a payments institution authorised by a designated competent authority under EU Directive or a separate client visa/escrow account with a financial body regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.
"The operation of the account must be in accordance with the following key steps:
- Students pay programme fees in advance of making a visa application
- Funds must remain in this account until the student’s visa application is determined
a) If the student confirms the successful visa application, the funds are released to the provider’s current account or
b). If the visa application is refused, the funds (less any pre-indicated handling charge) must be refunded within 20 working days of the decision being communicated to the Provider."
Young Togolese owed €1,950
Aicha Sanni is among five young people from the West African country of Togo who claim they are owed refunds by another English language school, English Talks.
She has been waiting since last December for a refund of course fees of €1,950 from English Talks.
The 23-year-old works on a market stall in Togo selling cosmetics with her mother.
Last week, she told RTÉ News that if she does not recoup the savings she spent five years accumulating, she has no means to pay for education or training that might help her secure a brighter future.
RTÉ News contacted English Talks last week and this week.
Although the company received copies of Department of Justice letters to the students, informing them that their visa applications had been refused, the school told RTÉ News that it wanted to verify the status of any appeals before repaying the five Togolese students the money that it owes them.
However, Aicha said that she has not appealed her visa refusal.
As well as their obligation to refund tuition fees, English language schools are obliged to publish their refund policy on their websites.
However, on the English Talks website, the page titled 'Refund policy' states 'This Page is under Construction!'
English Education Ireland
English Education Ireland (EEI) is a national association representing 62 accredited English language schools here.
It does not represent English Talks, or Student Campus, or the college referred to above that Mongolian agency Actra LLS has been interacting with.
EEI has called for greater enforcement of the regulations by the Department of Justice.
"The rules are there. They are very clear with regard to managing student funds and making sure the correct protections are in place, and the Department of Justice should be enforcing their own rules," EEI Chief Executive Lorcan O'Connor Lloyd said.
"The department should be inspecting non-compliant providers. They have the power to remove schools from authorised lists. If schools are non-compliant then they should be removed immediately."
Mr O'Connor Lloyd said that any attempt to oblige a student to appeal a visa refusal, as a precondition for a refund, would be "deeply unfair" and "not within the rules that are set out, clearly".
"These students have paid huge amounts of money, which should be held in an escrow account, and if a visa application is rejected those monies should be returned to the student immediately," he said.
The Irish Council for International Students (ICOS) has criticised a lack of compliance with the rules.
"We need strong oversight and enforcement of the regulations," its Policy and Communications Manager Brian Hearne said.
"If this was an Irish student and their family, this would be completely unacceptable, but this situation is even worse because these students are from developing countries, in a very vulnerable situation, and they have no way of getting their monies back," he said.
