Visa Fraud Concerns Lead Two more Australian Universities to Ban Indian Students

MELBOURNE:
Another two universities in Australia have banned the admission of students from a few states in India as a response to a spike in visa applications that are fraudulent in nature, stated a media report.

Which are these two institutes? Federation University in Victoria and Western Sydney University in New South Wales. Last week, these two universities wrote to education agents that they will no longer be taking on students from the following states:
1) Punjab
2) Haryana
3) Uttarakhand
4) Uttar Pradesh
5) Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir

This was reported by The Sydney Morning Herald.

This happened despite the Prime Minister of India, who is currently visiting Australia, spoke, “Australian and Indian students living and studying in each other’s countries, and bringing those experiences home”.

Today, May 24, Australia and India signed the migration and mobility partnership arrangement. This agreement encourages the exchange of students, graduates, researchers as well as business professionals.

What did the letter say?
“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 letter addressed to education agents from the Federation University stated.

“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.

Just last month…
Victoria University, Edith Cowan University, Torrens University and Southern Cross University had banned/restricted students from a few Indian states after a spike in fraudulent applications were received that sought work, not educational opportunities, in Australia.

“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.

Which states did the university identify as having the highest attrition risk?
1) Punjab
2) Gujarat
3) Haryana

“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.

The ban imposed by Western Sydney University, as mentioned by it, would last two months from May to June 2023.

It further said that additional measures would be taken “to address the issue of non-genuine students enrolling with the university from these regions, including changes to application screening, stricter admissions conditions and increases to commencement fees”.

What are the numbers saying?
One out of every four applications from India is being termed as “fraudulent” or “non-genuine” by the Department of Home Affairs, the report said.

In 2019, Australia enrolled over 75,000 students, this year, it is expected to surpass the number. Also, it may be noted that just last week, the Department of Home Affairs informed a federal parliamentary inquiry that the rejection rate when it comes to Indian applications is 24.3%, the highest since the year 2012.