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Visa consultancy, IELTS centres in Chandigarh find no takers
Businesses hit hard with international travel restricted and students putting off plans to study abroad, report consultancies
With people putting off plans for travel and study abroad following the Covid-19 pandemic, visa consultancy firms and International English Language Testing System (IELTS) centres in Chandigarh are struggling to survive.
With high commissions and international airlines yet to resume normal functioning there’s no one turning up at consultancies for travel and immigration advice. IELTS and Test of English as Foreign Language (TOEFL) centres which assess candidates’ proficiency in the language of the countries they are headed, too are facing a similar situation.
According to a list of Chandigarh Police, there more than 200 immigration consultancies in the city.
Finances hit, people not expected to travel
Anuj Kalra, an immigration expert based in the city, says, “The economy may have reopened but embassies have deferred plans to reopen. International travel will remain critical even after the opening of embassies as people have been badly hit financially and many will not opt to travel abroad. We are not getting immigration related queries or phone calls yet. There has been no revenue since the lockdown was imposed.”
Immigration experts say over one lakh students from Punjab and Chandigarh every year opt for popular education destinations such as the US, UK, Canada and Australia.
For international travel firms, the period between April and September is considered peak season due to school and college vacations and favourable weather conditions, but this year business has been impacted.
“Because of the high commissions remaining closed visa processes cannot be carried out at this stage. According to our calculations, we are not expecting any revenue till December,” says Jatin Wadhwa, director of an international education consultancy
Survival a challenge
A representative of Association of Overseas Education Consultants (AOEC) and CEO of Charms Education and Immigration, Manish Paitka, said, “There will be no real-time recruitment of students this year and no revenue will be generated. The industry is looking for the government’s support to prevent a total collapse.”
Most of the 200 IELTS centres, which cater to not only Chandigarh, but also the adjacent states of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, have been impacted by the lockdown.
Deshraj Thakral, who runs an IELTS centre, Y-Generation Overseas Education, in Sector 32, Chandigarh, says, “We have generated no revenues since the lockdown was imposed. We have started online classes but the response isn’t good. Students are postponing their plans to travel abroad. Layoffs could be a possibility If the situation does not improve till July.”
Navneet Singh, an immigration consultant and AOEC representative said, “The business will take close to a year to get back to normal. Many students have not been able to write their final exams yet. It will take them a few more months to get ready to apply to an international university or college. So, we are hoping that situation gets better by January next year.”
