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Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Education and Science has issued a public warning against fraudsters who charge cash to secure university admissions or transfer students between institutions outside the legally prescribed process — a caution backed by a string of recent arrests across several regions.
The warning follows an operation in Namangan by the Namangan regional office of the Department for Combating Economic Crimes under the Prosecutor General’s Office, in which a suspect was detained in the act of receiving 18 million soums after promising to enrol a citizen directly into the third year of a private university. A criminal case has been opened.
A Pattern of Arrests
The Namangan case is not isolated. In Tashkent, a separate suspect was detained after allegedly promising to arrange admission to a private higher education institution for $7,500. In Bukhara, a citizen was caught with material evidence after collecting 26 million soums on the claim that he could fabricate documents showing the victim had completed the first three years of a Kazakhstani university, then use connections in senior positions to secure enrolment from the fourth year at Bukhara Innovative Education and Medical University’s medical faculty. In Khorezm, a regional governor’s aide was detained while receiving $1,400 in exchange for a promise to arrange admission to Tashkent University of Humanities.
How the Legal Process Actually Works
The ministry set out the rules that fraudsters routinely exploit. Transfers from foreign and non-state higher education institutions are accepted only between 15 July and 5 August each year through a dedicated electronic platform operated by the Agency for Assessment of Knowledge and Skills; transfers are then decided on the basis of special examinations conducted by that agency. Enrolment orders for students admitted to non-state higher education institutions must be registered in the HEMIS national information system no later than 1 October. Anyone whose data is not entered into HEMIS will not receive a diploma.
The ministry was explicit: promises to place someone in the third year without examinations, to arrange a late transfer, or to formalise documents after the fact should not be trusted. It urged students and families to use only official channels and platforms, to verify that their data has been registered in HEMIS after admission, and to hand no documents or money to intermediaries.
Suspicious offers or suspected violations can be reported to the Anti-Corruption Agency on short number 1253 or to the ministry itself on 1006. Trusting anyone who promises to resolve admission or transfer matters for cash, bypassing established procedures, the ministry warned, risks both financial loss and criminal liability for the person paying.