Dear Nairalanders,

Many of us have lost our dreams to student recruitment agents and study abroad consultants. In some cases some are unable to recover from financial losses sustained through these transactions. Anybody applying through an agent to study abroad is at risk. Because of the cross border nature of these transactions, prosecution is a long process and many give up the fight in pursuit of justice, allowing agents get away with their actions.

This needs to stop.

Below is an account of my experience with Aerocadet Academy/ Raich Aerospace LLC.

I signed a flight training agreement with Aerocadet Academy to attend the Full Professional Pilot Programme. As per the agreement, Aerocadet was to enrol me at a Flight Training Center (FTP) in Miami Florida and provide documents for visa support. On my part, I was required to pay the sum of $5110:
$515 – Flight Training Provider enrolment fee.
$1750 – Payment for internship with Raich Aerospace LLC to gain experience. Location would be my home country of Nigeria as this would also serve for home tie.
$2845 – 5% of the tuition fee, refundable upon completion of training.

According to their website, their services are free but the agreement stated that I had to make all payments to the FTP through them to enable them earn a commission, which was understable. It also stated I would be charged a consultancy fee totaling 5% of my tuition if I defaulted in any way or cancelled the agreement.

I signed the agreement and made the required deposit.

Aerocadet’s aviation training consultant- Russ Sherwood, whose online profile also reads Airline Captain at Delta Connection, sent an offer of employment letter with the wrong FTP details. I sent at least three emails requesting the letter be corrected, he responded to these emails at least twice addressing other concerns but disregarded my request for an amended letter. He claimed he did not receive the requests.

The VO pointed out that the information on the letter from Aerocadet that did not match details on my Form I20 and my visa application was refused. Russ Sherwood suggested that I go to Canada for the initial training and transfer to the USA from there or cancel the agreement if I wanted. Then the GM of Raich Aerospace Gene Carroll made an apology and said the company would pay for my US visa application after I had completed the initial training elsewhere and was ready to transfer to them in USA.

After careful consideration, I declined this suggestion and asked for other options. I was told I could cancel the agreement in which case they would retain my deposit as consultancy fee.

When I said I had logged a complaint locally with a federal agency for prosecution through a partner agency in USA, they sent an email warning to terminate all direct email communication with me. They said they would only communicate with me/the authorities through their legal representative and only via mail sent to their Hong Kong offices.

It is common knowledge that failure to perform by a party nullifies an agreement, yet Aerocadet/Raich Aerospace continue to hold me to the terms of agreement that had been nulled by their negligence. With no care for the implication a visa denial on the grounds of presenting inaccurate information at the embassy could have on my record or that I was losing valuable time as a result of their action, I was being made to bear the financial burden for their negligence.

The activities of these agents need to be regulated to ensure fair practices and stop the exploitation of foreign applicants made vulnerable by international borders.

Kindly click on the link below to sign the petition. This cause needs your signature to make a difference. Together we can. Thank you.

https://www.change.org/p/federal-trade-commission-regulate-the-activities-of-overseas-student-recruitment-agents

Hello everyone.

I am in the process of applying for a study permit. I understand the police character clearance is required in respect of all countries applicant has resided over the age of 18. In my case, that would be Great Britain and Nigeria.

Can anyone advise on how to apply for the British police character clearance from Nigeria;

Also, can I obtain the medical report from just any clinic/Gp or does it have to be from specific clinics/doctor?

Thanks for your responses.

bxboss:

Thanks for the reply, I've sent u a PM. Since Aerocadet is working with Aviation College for pikit training I checked the price Aerocadet and Aviation College quoted so as to make sure I'm not paying extra, and the fees was the same.

For some reason I can't access my inbox so I sent you an email.

Yes, fees quoted are the same, however, you will be required to pay 5% of your tuition plus $1750 to secure a spot on the internship programme and $500 enrolment fee to process your admission. They will send you a strongly worded agreement before you proceed. Going by this agreement, you stand to lose your deposit if you do not attend the course. As agents they receive a commission from the school not you. All I am saying is that you are careful. Like I said, I will not be sharing my experience publicly but I can assure you it hasn't been as fantastic as you see described on their website.

bxboss:
Good evening guys... Pls I need advice from experienced pilots, I intend going to the US for my flight training, after many research I came up with some schools which are Pheonix East Aviation, Aerocadet and 43 air school(South Africa). 43 air school has even sent me admission letter buy I'm having a second thought because of their license (SCAA) which means I can only fly in SA or will convert the licence if I intend flying in another country so I shoved that aside, PEA is a fantastic school based on my findings but their training (Zero to Cpl) is quite expensive abt 64k dollars, though I can build hours and earn money buy going for an instructor course. Aerocadet in the other hand came with a very fantastic offer professional pilot program(Zero-Atpl) in abt 2yrs for $55k, their students are made to go through Ppl, Cpl,IR MER, CFI1, CF11 with an internship with them where they link you up with Global air service to ferry aircraft so you could build hours and earn money abt 50dollars per hour... Pls I need advice because the offer is too good and I am skeptical about it. NB Their training is equivalent to 2yrs degree program which can be transferred to a university for completion..

I would apply directly to a flight school if I were you. Aerocadet is a student recruitment agency. As with all agents, they're only after the commission they get off your payments to the flight training provider. I will not share my experience with them here, but you can inbox me privately.

vanod:
pls and pls nobody here should pay more than 5k for police character certificate.

When u get to Alagbon ask of inspector Mary from gate they will show u her office.

Unless u want to waste 10k or 15k u can go ahead.

Nobody would come from Abuja to Alagbon for PCC.

brave1773:

Please send me a pm.. I know of a lady that took 10k from me. let me give you her number. When you get there call her. bravemichael18@gmail.com

Thanks. I did mine already. Maybe I should have negotiated at the time.

likeababygirl:

Choi. I did mine for 10k tho and it took about 4 days. I think you should negotiate finebabynoni

Pls negotiate if you can @finebabynoni. She asked for 15k when I did mine and I got it the next day.

finebabynoni:
please can someone advice me.
I wrote IELTS general training for immigration purposes. But i want to apply for TRV for study permit.
1. there is a part of the form that says "Language test written" should i say Yes or No.
2. I reside in Abuja, Can someone advice me on how to go about police character certificate
3. Must I submit my passport together with my application if am doing paper route.

thank you

Police Headquarters at Area 11. Her name is Kemi. It'll take a couple days and you pay N15k. Let me know if you need her mobile number.

Yes, your passport is submitted with the paper application.