Australian universities ban Indian students from some states over rise in 'fraudulent visa applications'

Two more Australian universities have stopped accepting students from certain Indian states amid a rise in fraudulent visa applications.

Last week the Federation University in Victoria and the Western Sydney University in New South Wales wrote letters to education agents instructingthem to not recruit students from Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttrakhand and Jammu & Kashmir, reported The Sydney Morning Herald.

The Federation Univeristy's letter to the agency read, "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."

It further warned that the issue currently seems to be short-term but might become an emerging trend.

Thenews came as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on avisit to the country and spoke of more Australian and Indian students studying and living together in each other's countries. He added how the two countries inked a migration and collaboration agreement to boost student, graduate and commercial exchanges.

Similarly, last month, several Australian universities, including Victoria University, Edith Cowan University and Southern Cross University, also imposed a ban on Indian students from certain states in response to the increased fraudulent applications seeking to work in the country.

Western Sydney University in its statement said that a large number of Indian students who commenced studying in the 2022 intake have not remained enrolled, which resulted in a high attrition rate. It designated Punjab, Gujarat and Haryana to be the ones with the highest risk of attrition.

The university added that the ban would be in place for at least two months - May and June 2023.

It also mentioned that additional measures to address the issue of non-genuine students enrolling from these regions would include changes to application screenings, stricter admission and an increase in commencement fees.

According to a study by the Department of Affairs, one in every four Indian applications is declared as "fraudulent" or "non-genuine."

Last week, the department told a federal parliamentary investigation that the rejection rate for Indian applicants is 24.3 per cent, thehighest since 2012.

As per reports, this year, Australia is set toenrol the most number of Indian students ever, exceeding its previous high of 75,000.

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