A 24/7 hotline opened by the Indian embassy in the US to assist 129 Indian students arrested by the American authorities in the "pay-and-stay" university visa scam, official sources said.129 students have been arrested for enrolling at a fake university allegedly to remain in the US.
The university in Detroit's Farmington Hills was part of an undercover operation by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) designed to expose 'immigration fraud'. The fake university was opened by Homeland Security Investigations to trap those involved in illegal student visa racket. In 2017, as many as 249,763 Indian students were enrolled in the various American universities and student from China were at top list with 481,106, according to the reports of ICE.
Indian Embassy announced that friends and family of affected students may call embassy at 'cons3.washington@mea.gov.in' to assist them. The Indian embassy has appointed a nodal officer to handle and coordinate all issues related to helping Indian students.