Key Points
- Indian student visa applications to Australia surge despite recent refusals.
- Offshore student visa applications on hand more than halved since July end: DHA.
- Experts say things are looking up for offshore student visa applicants from India.
India continues to be the second-largest source for international students Down Under, accounting for a 15.2 per cent share in 2019, and 16.3 per cent in 2022, rapidly inching towards pre-pandemic levels.
Government data indicates that offshore student visa applications are steadily rising from the South Asian nation, despite increased competition from other global study destinations, particularly Canada and the UK.
Student visa processing picks up for applicants outside Australia. Source: Getty / Getty Images/urbancow
Their focus is engagement with Indian universities for research collaboration, transnational education opportunities and reaching out to the wider Indian market.Dr Monica Kennedy
Dramatic decline in student visa grant rates from offshore applications in India
While offshore lodgements have shown a significant increase since June, the trend isn’t converting to similar records of visa grants for applicants from India.
The latest paints a dismal picture regarding that statistic.
It shows that the grant rate for student visa applicants from India, experienced a sharp decline from 75 per cent in June to nearly 36 per cent at the end of October.
The data further indicates that the success rates for those applying for higher education, vocational education and training sectors respectively, are particularly low.
India, however, isn’t the only country that has been hit by poor approval rates.
Nepal, which accounts for 6 per cent of the total overseas student share in Australia, has also witnessed a slump in the overall offshore grant rate.
Experts believe Australian student visa approval rates for offshore Indian applicants are likely to improve in the coming months. Source: Getty / Getty Images
I think just prior to the start of the academic semester in July, DHA processed a lot of applications with a relatively high grant rate.Abul Rizvi
“That was because the applications that may have looked likely for refusal, were put to one side and that’s why the later months show a high refusal rate,” he elaborated.
Mr Rizvi added that the low grant rates in recent months could also be attributed to the reports of DHA finding a surge in the levels of fraud in applications from countries like India and Nepal, especially in the case of applications for the vocational education and training sector.
However, he added that the approval rates are expected to go up in the coming months with the government implementing policy changes to allow more streamlined processing of student visas.
Things looking up for Indian student visa applicants
Ravi Lochan Singh, president of the Association of Australian Education Representatives in India and MD of educational consultancy Global Reach. Source: Supplied / Supplied by Ravi Lochan Singh
“The Department of Home Affairs has already recruited additional staff onshore and others across multiple offshore posts, including in New Delhi due to which, processing times have improved, with Indian applications now being assessed in about three to six weeks of lodgement.
They have kept their side of the bargain despite the prevalence of fraud and a surge in poor-quality applications.Ravi Lochan Singh
Melbourne-based registered migration agent Navjot Kailay said that while the uptick isn’t yet reflected in government data, he has also observed “a vast improvement” in approval rates and processing times.
“Visa approval rates have definitely gone up in the last two months. The grant rates for student visa applicants especially in the higher education sectors have gone up while the processing times have also reduced,” he said.
In response to SBS Punjabi’s query, a DHA spokesperson said the department has granted a record 165,700 offshore student visas between June and 2 December.
This is 58 per cent higher than levels for the same period in pre-pandemic 2019, the spokesperson added.
The number of offshore student visa applications on-hand has more than halved since the end of July. Of those on-hand, over 65 per cent have been so for less than a month.Spokesperson, Department of Home Affairs
The spokesperson said all student visa applications are considered on an individual basis against legal requirements set out in Australia’s migration legislation.
“Amongst other things, student visa applicants must demonstrate that they are seeking to visit Australia temporarily to gain a quality education and intend to use the student visa program for its intended purpose only and not as a pathway to gain permanent residency in Australia,” the spokesperson added.
According to the global processing times available on the DHA’s website as of November, the median processing time for offshore higher education sector applications was 14 days and 27 days for the VET sector.
