Australia has begun a crackdown on visa approvals, rejecting international student visas at record rates since the start of 2026. Applications from students from India, Nepal and Bangladesh have been hardest hit, facing massive cuts compared to 2025 visa approvals.
Rejection rates for visa applications from international university students reached 32.5% in February this year. This is the highest rate of rejections recorded in a single month in the past 20 years and more than double the 2025 maximum of 15.5%. Interestingly, South Asian applicants have the highest rejection rates recorded. 60.2% of Nepalese, 47.2% of Bangladeshis and 40% of Indian student visa applications were rejected, while Chinese applications remained steady at 3%, according to a report by The Noticer. The government granted just 34,000 student visas to overseas applicants in January and February, the lowest level since 2013, outside of the Covid pandemic. The Australian Department of External Affairs (MEA) has recently tightened visa rules for Indian students under the Simplified Student Visa Framework (SSVF). They have been moved from Evidence Level 2 to Evidence Level 3, meaning Indian applicants will be required to provide more detailed financial records and other documents to prove that the primary purpose of their arrival is to study.
Australia’s net out-migration was 306,000 in 2024-25 with net out-migration arriving at 568,000. Since Anthony Albanese’s appointment as Prime Minister in May 2022, an estimated 2.47 million migrants have arrived in Australia with net out-migration of 1.5 million. Home Affairs statistics show that India provides the largest number of permanent migrants to Australia, followed by China, the Philippines, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Vietnam, South Africa and Brazil. However, high rates of immigration in the country have led to higher rental and housing prices, leading to increased support for One Nation. Furthermore, according to official data, 33,000 residents left Sydney while 8,600 left Melbourne due to the high migrant population, raising concerns about and from indigenous people. According to The Noticer, Assistant Minister for International Education Julian Hale said Australia continues to welcome “genuine international students seeking a high-quality education”. “Decisions regarding student visas are made based on the merits of each individual application, and the government will not back down from robust integrity measures to weed out inauthentic students,” he said.