Australian Universities Ban Indian Students as Fraudulent Visa Applications Soar

Hundreds of vaccinated international students can return to NSW by 2022. Brendon Thorne/Getty Images

Australian universities have placed bans or restrictions on international students from some Indian states in an effort to crack down on growing fraudulent visa applications.

This comes as the country has seen a surge in the number of international students after it re-opened its border in 2021.

In addition, applications from Indian students are expected to exceed pre-pandemic highs of 75,000 following Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s trip to India in March, in which he announced that Australia would facilitate the efficient and timely processing of student visa applications for Indian nationals.

According to an investigation by The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, at least five universities, including Victoria University, Edith Cowan University, the University of Wollongong, Torrens University, and agents working for Southern Cross University are banning or placing higher requirements for prospective students from many states in India.

The Home Affairs Department told the media outlets that there had been an increase in incomplete applications and presentation of fraudulent information and documentation in student visa applications since Australia eased COVID-19 border restrictions in 2021.

At the same time, the department witnessed a surge in applications from South Asian countries after the Morrison government removed the working limit of 20 hours per week for student visa holders.

In February, Home Affairs disapproved 94 percent of applications from India to study in Australia’s vocational sector, while only less than one percent of applications from countries such as the United States, the UK and France were rejected.

While players in the education sector have taken actions to prevent the system from being abused, the industry still rakes in significant revenue from international students.

Universities Australia, a peak industry body, revealed that international students contributed $29 billion (US$19.5 billion) to the Australian economy in 2022.

Concerns About Risks to Australia’s Immigration System

As the government has adopted new policies to facilitate the recovery of Australia’s overseas education industry, there have been concerns that the immigration system is at risk due to migrants seeking to exploit the student visa program.

During a Senate hearing, International Education Association of Australia CEO Phil Honeywood said the problem with the student visa program went beyond Indian students as there had been widespread exploitation of students from Nepal and other South Asian nations.

People study at the University of Technology Sydney campus in Sydney, Australia, on April 6, 2016. Brendon Thorne/Getty Images

The Senate inquiry was told that overseas agents were pushing applicants into the education system as they saw student visas as an easy method to gain work rights in Australia.

Honeywood said the surge in non-genuine applicants was due to the federal government’s decision to abolish maximum work hours for student visa holders.

“It’s become a Ponzi scheme which is attracting the wrong motivation for young people,” the CEO said.

While education agencies have been accused of exploiting Australia’s visa system to attract applicants, some people in the industry said education providers were also part of the problem.

Education agent Ravi Singh from Global Reach told The Age that many Australian training colleges had become “visa factories” that focused on offering immigration pathways rather than education.

Response From the Government

In an interview with ABC radio, Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil said the significant number of international students returning to Australia was good news as it showed the education system was recovering.

“This is a really important export for our country, and I’m pleased to see students coming back into the country,” she said.

While the minister said the student system helped attract brilliant young people from around the world into Australia, she acknowledged that it was one of the main avenues through which exploitation occurred.

As such, O'Neil said Australia needed to balance between increasing the number of international students and preventing the system from being exploited.

The minister also explained it was the government’s view there was no indication that rules around student visas would be tightened.

“I think we need to be really cautious about how we think about international students and the scope for exploitation,” O'Neil said.

“It is an opportunity … for our country that all these wonderful young people are coming here to study.

“It’s a very important provider of jobs and support for the higher education sector as a whole. But yes, at the other end of this, there is a risk, and the government is alive to it and managing it.”