Several Australian universities have asked some international students to withdraw their offers, implying the recent federal changes are the main reason for the move.
According to Times Higher Education, Wollongong and La Trobe universities have cancelled certificates of enrolment previously granted to international students, as the issuance of study visas in the country has reached record lows, especially for Indian and Bangladeshi students, VisaGuide.World reports.
The migration strategy announced by the newly elected Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, in December included prioritising student visa applications based on institutions’ risk levels, with higher-risk providers being subject to slower processing times.
This sent some 18 universities across the country into a panic, as they are rated high risk, with this situation remaining for another two months until the risk ratings are expected to be updated, as the Association of Australian Education Representatives in India (AAERI) points out.
[They] feel that they need to get the visa [applications] withdrawn to avoid further refusals as these refusals will lead to higher risk level.
Authorities rejected 21 percent of the visa applications from international students in the second half of last year, with refusal rates reaching 37 percent for applications from Pakistan, 39 percent from India, and 52 percent from Nepal.
According to a previous Financial Review article published in August, India accounts for the highest rejection rate for overseas applicants, standing at 93.8 percent. However, Indian nationals who applied for the same visa while already staying in Australia have an approval rate of 97 per cent, indicating a trend of universities declining newcomers to the country.
An email published in the Koala International Education News shows Wollongong University informing a student that they were ‘unlikely to meet the new criteria to obtain a positive visa outcome’, offering them two options: either withdraw their offer and receive a refund or defer their offer.
Unfortunately, the Australian Government has recently implemented substantial changes to its migration strategy. Given those changes, the close commencement of your preferred intake, and the fact that you have not received a visa outcome as yet, UOW has determined that you are unlikely to meet the new criteria to obtain a positive visa outcome.
A spokeswoman from La Trobe said that her university was working with less than 0.4 percent of its overseas applicants to review and revise their applications.
According to the Australian Department of Education, India is the second source country for international students, with 158,724 enrolments being recorded between January and October of 2023.