Continued Recovery in Australia for Foreign Enrollment in the First Half of 2022

The Australian international education sector is recovering after two years of border closures. A recently released report from Australia’s Department of Home Affairs delivers some important information on the country’s student visa program. Around 230,000 student visas for Australia have been granted so far in 2021/22. 

Australian visa data indicates continued recovery through the first half of 2022

Around 230,000 Australian student visas have been given so far in 2021-22. Only under 40% have been issued to students from the 4 leading countries for students returning to Australia during the time of 22 November 2021 to 22 May 2022:

• India - 34,035
• China - 25,689
• Nepal - 18,889
• Vietnam - 7,172

More broadly, student visa applications reached a high of 473,415 in 2018-19 and then dropped to 262,633 in 2020-21. Visa application volumes drowned in 2021/22 to reach 314,388 as of 22 May 2022.

Visa Applicants for Australia

The important date to note here is that the Australian government’s fiscal year ends on 30 June. Australia’s borders were reopened for international students on 15 December 2021 after a long closure during the pandemic. In other words, the return volumes reflect the numbers of students traveling to the country between mid-December 2021 and May 2022.

• There were 91,296 visa applications from students of china in 2018/19, dropping to 52,041 in 2020/21, and then to 55,601 through 22 May 2022. This year up to now for 2021/22 signifies roughly 60% of the pre-pandemic number of Chinese student visa applications.
• Indian visa applicants have returned to 64% of pre-pandemic numbers which is 57,635 year-to-date for 2021-22 as opposed to 89,868 in 2018-19.
• Applications from Nepalese students have reached 90% of pre-COVID levels which is 39,066 year-to-date for 2021-22 compared to 43,190 in 2018-19.

Visas Granted for Australia

A parallel trend is witnessed regarding the total number of Australian visas granted. Starting from a high point of 405,742 in 2018-19, visa grants fell to 232,750 in 2020-21, and have now reached 56% of pre-pandemic levels with 228,150 visas granted year-to-date in 2021/22.

There were a total of 469,306 Australian student visa holders all around the world on 19 June 2022. Around 354,475 students were in Australia and 114,831 students are currently based outside of the country. The total number of active student visas for Australia has now rebounded to roughly 80% of pre-pandemic levels as of May 2022.

Reduced Visa Processing Time

The Department of Home Affairs acknowledges that it continues to struggle with a significant processing backlog. The current processing benchmarks for student visas are updated regularly on the department’s website, indicating that 75% of student visa applications are finalized within six to ten weeks, with some outliers requiring several months to process on average.

In response, the department outlines several measures it has taken in order to reduce processing times:

• Student visa staff also work over weekends and public holidays to process visas.
• The department has added new processing staff.
• Other staff resources have been diverted to boost the processing capacity in the student visa program.
• Home Affairs has also signaled that incomplete applications will now be finalized (i.e., rejected) without asking the applicants to provide further information.

So Applicants should ensure that they include all relevant documents when applying for their students. The application form in ImmiAccount has the list of documents to be attached for the visa application.