'Genuine' Chinese student ordered to leave Malta

A Chinese girl who has been studying English in Malta for 16 months has been told to pack her bags and leave the country "within seven days" after she was refused a visa extension without being given a reason.

Wang Xiao Jie, 29, from Tian Jin city, also known to her Maltese friends as Jessica, arrived in January 2004 and has been hosted by Pierre German and his wife ever since.

Ms Wang attended EF Language School until August and in October moved on to Link Language School in Swieqi for a more advanced course. She had been hoping to start a course at the Institute of Tourism Studies next October.

But after applying to extend her stay last month, Ms Wang was informed last Wednesday that her visa extension had been refused and that she had a week in which to "pack up and leave Malta".

"No explanation was given and for the past four days I have been going to the Central Immigration Office in Floriana to explain that Jessica's case requires more attention," a broken-hearted Mr German told The Times yesterday.

Mr German said he had turned to this newspaper as a last resort because, if nothing happened by today or tomorrow, the Chinese student whom he and his wife had grown to love so much would have to return to China.

Mr German said the only reply he got when he asked an immigration official why the authorities had refused to renew Ms Wang's visa was that there were "far too many Chinese around". Ms Wang has now submitted another application.

Mr German said he and his wife hosted foreign students who come to Malta to learn English but with Jessica it had been different.

"Jessica is an adorable, caring and loving girl and it wasn't long before everyone at home considered her part of the family," he said, explaining why he wanted to leave no stone unturned to enable her to at least finish the language course she had started.

Mr German also spoke to the Foreign Affairs Ministry and was told the matter should be taken up with the police. The Chinese embassy in Malta also told him they could do little about the case because the matter was the prerogative of the Maltese authorities.

Mr German believes Ms Wang is genuine but that she has become the victim of a clampdown on visa extensions in the wake of recent allegations about irregularities in the issue of visas to Chinese nationals.

There are strong suspicions that a number of Chinese have been coming to Malta on the pretext of learning English, intending to migrate illegally to mainland Europe.

A number of Chinese who crossed over to Sicily by boat from Malta were recently sent back by the Italian authorities.

Vouching for his guest's genuine intentions, Mr German said Ms Wang had even gone to Slovakia for a holiday with his family in the second week of February.

Ms Wang, who worked for six years at the Tian Jin Stock Exchange before coming to Malta, said yesterday she knew of other Chinese nationals who encountered the same problems.

"A fellow classmate had her application for renewal refused and therefore left Malta a week ago," she said. Ms Wang said her plans to attend the Institute of Tourism Studies had now gone haywire.

Besides a certificate for having attended lectures at Link Language School signed by the school director, Ms Wang also has a letter from the Malta Qualification Recognition Information Centre saying her Chinese qualifications are equivalent to an 'A' Level standard of education.

"My parents are still in China," she said, explaining that she intended to go back to her homeland once her studies were over.

Ms Wang's sister, who is married and lives in England, called last week and said she was coming to Malta with her husband towards the end of May to visit her.

Contacted about Ms Wang's case yesterday, Justice and Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg said there had been no blanket decision to refuse visas for Chinese people.

"It's true the police are being more careful after the recent allegations, but each case is evaluated on its own merits," Dr Borg said, adding this was not a case relating only to Chinese nationals.

In the first week of April, Dr Borg said in Parliament there had been 2,452 applications for visas from Chinese nationals between July 2004 and March 2005. A total of 1,793 were accepted and 659 refused.

Last year, around 20 per cent of the applications for Chinese visas were refused, while the refusal rate went up to 50 per cent this year.