Aussie Universities Tighten Door on Indian Students from 6 States Over Visa Fraud Concerns

A few Australian institutions have imposed limitation on student requests from Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Jammu & Kashmir due to a recent surge of bogus visa requests and abuse of the student visa scheme. Government authorities found that close to 24% of Indian student v...

A few Australian institutions have imposed limitation on student requests from Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Jammu & Kashmir due to a recent surge of bogus visa requests and abuse of the student visa scheme. Government authorities found that close to 24% of Indian student visa requests were rated as "fraudulent or non-genuine," with education cited as being used as a vehicle for immigration rather than to study by the majority of candidates. Universities grumble about issues like forged documents, academic disaffection, and high dropout or transfer rates from these states. Admission applications from these states are thus now liable to flat rejection or very much increased scrutiny and verification. These are institutional choices, not a federal ban, but have sparked confusion and disappointment among valid students and could influence subsequent entry cycles and bilateral education arrangements. Sources: CNBC-TV18, Firstpost, Times of India