The Australian government is rejecting visas for international students at record rates this year, with applicants from India, Nepal and Bangladesh the worst affected.
The refusal rate on visa applications by international university students reached 32.5% in February, the highest rate of rejections seen in a single month in 20 years and more than double last year’s maximum of 15.5%.
South Asian applicants had some of the highest refusal rates recorded, with 60.2% of Nepalese, 47.2% of Bangladeshi, and 40% of Indian student visa applications denied. The refusal rate for Chinese applications held steady at 3%.
Student visa rules for India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan were quietly tightened in January amid concern over a fake Indian degree bust late last year, with police in Kerala warning criminals may have supplied fake documentation to 1 million people across India.
In total, the Australian government granted just 34,000 student visas to overseas applicants this January and February, the lowest number since 2013 outside the COVID pandemic.
Former deputy secretary at the Department of Immigration Abul Rizvi said the government appeared to be quietly trying to bring down immigration, which is again, according to the latest official figures.
“If that continues, there is zero chance that the government can deliver the Treasury forecast of 225,000 [net overseas migration] for 2026-27,” he told the Australian Financial Review.
Assistant Minister for International Education Julian Hill said Australia still welcomed “genuine international students seeking a high-quality education”.
“Decisions on student visas are made on the merits of each individual application and the government won’t back off on strong integrity measures to weed out non-genuine students,” he said.
Net overseas migration was 306,000 in 2024-25 with 568,000 arrivals, ticking up to 311,000 in the year to September, and since Anthony Albanese became Prime Minister in May 2022 an estimated 2.47 million immigrants have arrived, with net overseas migration at 1.5 million.
Data from the Department of Home Affairs also showed that there were 2.98 million temporary visa holders in Australia as of January 1 – a 4.24% increase on last year’s number and another record-high.
Home Affairs statistics also show that India provides the most permanents migrants to Australia, followed by China, the Philippines, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Vietnam, South Africa, and Brazil.
The steady growth of the Indian community in Australia has seen the establishment of Indian language programs in the nation’s schools and further educational demands by Australia’s Indian community.
The record-high immigration intake and resulting upwards pressure on rental and housing prices has resulted in a surge in support for One Nation, which is now more popular than the Liberal Party nationwide and in most states.
Header image: The fake degree bust in India (DDNews).
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