Three international students have said they face deportation after a technical glitch left them unable to submit a final university exam.
Fahim Aurakzai and twins Uzair and Umair Kanasro said they tried to upload their work electronically to Coventry University’s systems before the deadline, but the process failed.
Advice groups have taken up the case, fearing visa problems.
The university said it had found no evidence of problems with its system.
The 24-year-old twins and Mr Aurakzai, 25, are from Pakistan and are in the UK on student visas after starting their course last September.
They sat a four-hour online exam on 10 August.
All three are studying for a Master’s degree in civil engineering and had a dissertation due the same day.
Once this was submitted, they took the exam at 18:00 BST and had until 22:00 BST to upload their work to the university system.
But, they said, minutes before the deadline they tried to submit the work and it did not go through.
The men said they had previously been told that if there were problems with the system they could submit by email within 15 minutes of the deadline, which they said they did.
But the university, they added, told them their emailed results would not be accepted and they would have to go through a 12-week appeals process and retake the exam.
Such a timetable has brought visa issues into play, as they would not receive their results until the end of January – weeks after they need them to apply for a graduate visa to stay in the country for another two years.
Umair Kanasro, who said he and his brother wanted to use the graduate visa to gain technical experience in their field before returning home, explained: “It’s a nightmare for us. The last two months have been very stressful for us, we cannot eat properly, we cannot sleep properly.
Mr Aurakzai, who like the brothers lives in Birmingham, said the university had accepted that they had completed their work before the deadline, but they would still have to resit.
Inam Raziq, an immigration consultant at Fast Track Global Consultants in Birmingham who is helping the three men, said: “All their colleagues are happy to call their parents and invite them to the November graduation, while they are sending emails saying ‘please for God’s sake look at our work, look at our circumstances’.
“This is not [an] academic [appeal], this is a technical issue that they need to look into.”
Fizza Qureshi, executive director of the Migrants’ Rights Network, added: “The way in which these students have been treated for an error that is neither their responsibility nor their control is frankly shocking.
“Having spoken to the students on numerous occasions, they are rightly angry at the university’s hardline approach and the significant implications this has for their future in the UK.”
A spokesman for Coventry University said it could not comment on active cases, but added: “The vast majority of our students have uploaded their assessments on time and without issue.
“We have tried and tested, fair processes for dealing with missed deadlines and there is an academic appeals process available to all our students.
“These processes allow for and ensure compliance with UK visa regulations.
“Our international students are made aware of our regulations and their obligations at the time of enrolment.”
