India | Student Visa |

Indian Student Visa Approval Drops in Western Nations: Study

by DD Staff

February 06, 2025

University students

key takeaways

In 2024 fewer Indians were given student visas in almost all of the major Western study destinations than the year before, according to market research firm Bonard.

In the first three quarters of 2024, the firm looked at visa grant rates in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States of America (USA). It found that fewer study visas were given to Indians than in prior years, partly because of changes in immigration laws in a few of these countries.

According to Times Higher Education, Canada experienced the biggest decline, with 78,869 visas issued in the first nine months of 2024 compared to 2,83,735 during the same period in 2023, a 72% drop.

After a period of fast expansion, Canada imposed immigration limitations in January 2024 to limit the number of international students in the country. The tactic led to a significant decline in the number of applications submitted to Canadian universities and raised concerns that student enrollment would not reach 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".

Analysts claim that despite Indian students' persistently high interest in studying abroad, visa issues are pushing them to look at other study abroad options.

The growth of English-taught higher education programs, its affordability, and its relatively high visa clearance rates, for instance, have made Germany a popular choice, they say.