This Is Why Australia Is Rejecting Visas To Students From These 5 Indian States

Several Australian institutions, including Federation University in Victoria and Western Sydney University in New South Wales have decided to prohibit the recruitment of students from certain Indian states amid the rise in the number of fraudulent visa applications.

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Indian states that are banned and why

These institutions?have decided to place restrictions on applications of Indian students from Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Jammu & Kashmir over alleged submission of fraudulent documents and high rate of dropouts.

According to reports in the Australian media, the nation’s Department of Home Affairs, in charge of the student visa programme, told a federal parliamentary inquiry last week that the rejection rate for applications from India is 24.3 per cent, the highest since 2012.?

The report by the country's Department of Home Affairsindicated that one in four applications is now deemed “fraudulent” or “non-genuine”.

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Which Australian universities are banning Indian students?

Earlier this year, Australian media reports had named Victoria University, Edith Cowan University, University of Wollongong, Torrens University and Southern Cross University as restricting applications of Indian students, particularly from the states of Punjab and Haryana.

The fresh restrictions by the two universities come at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi has just concluded a diplomatic visit to Australia.

“The university has observed a significant increase in the proportion of visa applications being refused from some Indian regions by the Department of Home Affairs," the Federation University’s letter to agents said.

“We hoped this would prove to be a short-term issue (but) it is now clear there is a trend emerging," the letter, published in The Herald, read.

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What have these institutions said?

“A large number of Indian students who commenced study in 2022 intakes have not remained enrolled, resulting in a significantly high attrition rate," the Western Sydney University told agents in a message sent on May 8.

The university designated Punjab, Gujarat, and Haryana as the locations with the highest risk of attrition.“Due to the urgency of this matter, the university has decided to pause recruitment from these regions in India, effective immediately," the university message said, adding that recruitment from all other regions in India will continue as usual, as reported by FirstPost.

Australian and Indian Prime Ministers have agreed to increase student mobility and collaboration. They signed a migration and mobility agreement to promote exchanges in education, research, and business. This move will strengthen ties between the two nations and encourage cultural and knowledge sharing.

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