Visa curbs on Indian students unlikely to affect Bengaluru aspirants

Bengaluru: City students aspiring to study abroad remain largely unaffected by the recent student visa restrictions imposed by several countries, according to an official of an education consultancy.

Canada, Australia, and New Zealand have implemented stricter policies, limited the number of international students, or made it harder for Indians to get visas. This means securing a visa will be more competitive.

However, the regional manager of the consultancy, who didn’t want to be named, told DH that Bengaluru students are largely unaffected due to their calibre and genuine intent.

The changes, he said, targeted applicants who wanted a student visa primarily so they could work or gain permanent residency. He said genuine students who are interested in studying are still getting visas.

For example, his consultancy had a 97% success rate for student applications to Australia, he said. 

Surging rental prices in Canada and Australia have been cited as a key reason for the increased restrictions, with international students contributing to population increase.

Canada announced a cap on new students this year, which is expected to result in 3,60,000-approved study permits, a decrease of 35% from 2023. Australia has said students must have savings upwards of Rs 16,38,892 to be approved for a visa. Earlier, the savings cap was low. English language requirements have also been increased.

Immigration departments are cracking down on fraudulent applications. Many Australian universities have banned applications from Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, and Jammu and Kashmir, citing forged documents and a high rate of dropouts.

In New Zealand, fraudulent applications have been named as the reason for a high decline rate for Indian students. Immigration New Zealand rejected 49% of study visa applications from India in the first quarter of this year.