![Camila Bomfim (26) paid €2,400 to Vital Brasil Intercâmbios towards a follow-up booking at Dublin Business School, but they 'told me they didn't receive any [money]'.](https://www.irishtimes.com/resizer/v2/WAAPIZW3JZCUTG42D42E7FHOC4.JPG?auth=961524958c5502d7568a7cd17019a85a218c1c2d378569e7e4d6c24ffac37b83&smart=true&width=1024&height=691)
Dozens of international students who were preparing to study in Ireland have been left in limbo following the sudden closure of an Irish exchange tourism agency.
Vital Brasil Intercâmbios, founded 13 years ago, mediates between students and schools, colleges, and universities abroad. It abruptly closed its offices in Ireland and Brazil at the end of May.
In a statement on its website it said it was initiating legal procedures for companies that “choose to close their operations within the law, with due respect to all involved”.
It recommended anyone affected should contact the school where their enrolment was mediated by Vital.
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On May 29th, Juliana Vital Barbosa (39), identified as the former CEO and founder of Vital Intercâmbios Brasil, uploaded an audio to YouTube, apologising to customers, suppliers, and employees. She explained that the company had a series of financial losses caused by the closure of schools and an airline ticketing company, the 2020 pandemic, and “even the war in Ukraine”. She also instructed the students to contact the schools to negotiate.
The announcement caused shock among dozens of Brazilian exchange students. More than 150 have reported losses on a shared WhatsApp group. Most of these students were scheduled to come to Ireland with much smaller numbers destined for Malta, Australia and other countries. Some had made payments worth thousands of euro to Vital Intercâmbios to cover college, English Language tuition fees, in some cases, full packages including accommodation, insurance, transfers, and flights. Some had made transfers a week before the closure.
It was the second time that Camila Bomfim (26) arranged to buy a course through Vital. She was happy with the previous English course in Dublin and trusted the company to make the arrangements for a degree in Dublin Business School (DBS).
“I had already paid €2,400 out of a €6,060 full-year fee for a psychology degree. When the agency released the closing notice, I went to the college in person, and they told me that they didn’t receive any value from Vital regarding my application process,” she said.
“I feel very frustrated. I’ve been dedicating myself since the beginning of the year to raising this amount to pay the college. Now I don’t know what happened with this money, whether I’ll be able to get it back or not. So, I’m lost, I feel lost and frustrated about it,” she said.
Wilson Neumeister (27), a trainee architect, paid €2,600 for an English course in Dublin.
“Now, two weeks before my flight to Dublin, I was informed that Vital was closing the activities without any plausible justification. I got in touch directly with the school, agreed to the exchange. I found out that no fee had been paid. I had my registration, but no fee had been paid [to the school] by Vital,” he said.
“I’ve already contacted a lawyer, I’ve already filed a police report, and now I just have to wait. I’ve done everything I could. And now I just have to wait and see what the measures will be,” Mr Neumeister said.
Many have found that fees were not paid by the agency to educational institutions or services. While several clients were not enrolled on any course, others had only partial services covered, like registration fees, which cost a small fraction of the full investment.
Beatriz Castanheira (28) transferred almost €2,000 to the agency for a course starting in September, having handed in notice to leave her job in human resources.
“I contacted my school ... No value was passed on either for the school or the accommodation ... I feel helpless,” she said.
A WhatsApp group created by affected students after the company announcement gathered almost 300 people in three days. Many expressed anger at the company’s failure to respond to calls and emails.
Ravena Borges Gadelha (33), a former employee of Vital, said the company failed to pay her salary after her employment ended two months ago.
“The only feedback I had was saying they were going to check with the accountant. And they never returned it [her salary] to me,” she said.
The Irish Times had made attempts over several days to contact Vital Intercâmbios, its founder Juliana Vital and its chief executive Fabio Almeida for comment without success.
A representative for the Department of Further and Higher Education said travel agencies such as Vital Brasil Intercâmbio are “privately owned and primarily operate in other jurisdictions” and “act as intermediaries between prospective students and predominantly privateproviders” and so the department doesn’t have a role in these matters.
It said there were actions being taken to strengthen the regulation of the English Language Sector.
“The Trusted Ireland mark – a new international education quality mark – will be awarded by Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) to higher education and English language education providers who have demonstrated that they meet national standards to ensure a quality experience for international learners.
“The new Trusted Ireland scheme will establish, for the first time, a formal quality assurance process for the English language education sector in Ireland and will provide QQI with statutory powers to regulate this sector.”
