Consulate sets up legal camp for scam-hit students

The Indian consulate in San Francisco and the South Asian Bar Association will hold a free legal camp for Indian students who have been affected by the alleged immigration scam of Tri-Valley University, which was closed by the federal investigating agencies last week.

The camp to be attended by SABA attorneys would counsel TVU students free of charge on their rights and immigration options, a consulate official said in an email. The move, welcomed by the students, comes in the wake of these Indian students running from one attorney's office to the other seeking legal advice on what to do next.

While quite a few number of eminent Indian immigration attorneys are providing advice to the students on a voluntary basis, there are quite a few others who have started to charge money from these students. The free legal camp would be held at the Indian consulate in San Francisco on Saturday.

The Indian embassy in Washington is working with its other consulates too to work out similar free legal aid to Indian students in other parts of the country as well. Such a move comes after the Indian embassy in Washington over the weekend on its website set up dedicated helpline for its students. The advisory asked students of TVU students to write to minca@indiagov.org and edu@indiacgny.org to seek guidance from the Indian authorities.

"The Embassy of India in Washington, DC has taken up with the United States State Department the issue of Tri-Valley University in California, so as to ensure that Indian students are not subjected to any kind of discrimination or victimisation," the advisory said.

"The embassy along with the consulate general in San Francisco have set up a dedicated e-mail address to enable the affected students to communicate and seek guidance from the Indian authorities," it said.