According to market research firm Bonard, the number of Indians granted student visas in 2024 decreased in nearly all prominent Western study locations compared to the previous year.
The firm examined visa grant rates in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States of America (USA) in the first three quarters of 2024 and discovered that fewer study visas were granted to Indians than in previous years, which was, in part, due to changes in immigration policies in a few countries.
Canada saw the most significant drop, with 78,869 visas granted in the first nine months of 2024, compared to 2,83,735 in the same period in 2023, a 72 per cent decrease, Times Higher Education reports.
Canada implemented immigration restrictions in January 2024 to limit the number of international students in the country following a period of rapid expansion. The strategy resulted in a large drop in application numbers to Canadian universities, as well as anticipation that student enrollment would fall short of the maximum.
Visa permits fell 46 per cent in Australia, where officials attempted to curb international student numbers, and 38 per cent in the United Kingdom, where a ban on importing dependents went into effect.
According to Kristína Benediková, international education expert at Bonard, the number of US visas granted to Indian students decreased by 49 per cent in 2024 due to "visa processing challenges".
Despite the continued strong interest in studying abroad among Indian students, analysts say that visa difficulties are prompting students to explore new destinations to study abroad.
For example, they point that Germany has become a popular option due to the expansion of English-taught higher education programmes, its cost-effectiveness, and comparatively high visa approval rates.
