Australia rejects 38% of Sri Lanka student visa applications as integrity rules tighten

Australia has begun a crackdown on visa approvals, rejecting visas for international students at record rates since the beginning of 2026.

Applications from students belonging to Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, India and Bhutan have been the worst affected, facing massive cuts as compared to 2025 visa approvals.

The refusal rates on visa applications by international university students reached 32.5% in February this year. This is the highest rate of rejections seen in one month over the past 20 years and more than double 2025’s maximum of 15.5%.

South Asian applicants have had the highest recorded refusal rates. 60.2% of Nepalese, 47.2% of Bangladeshi, 40% of Indian and 38% Sri Lankan student visa applications were denied while Chinese applications held steady at 3%, as per a report by The Noticer.

The government granted only 34,000 student visas to overseas applicants this January and February, the lowest since 2013, outside the COVID pandemic.

Recently, Australia’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) also tightened visa rules for Indian students under the Simplified Student Visa Framework (SSVF). They were moved from Evidence Level 2 to Evidence Level 3, meaning Indian applicants will be required to provide more detailed financial records and other documents to prove that their primary purpose of arrival is study.

The recent spike in student visa rejections signals a broader reset in how the program is being managed, as officials respond to mounting integrity concerns and a push to curb migration levels, according to experts.

Net overseas migration, which surged after the COVID-19 pandemic, remains elevated despite a gradual decline from its peak of 556,000 in the year ending 2023, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Net overseas migration in Australia was 306,000 in 2024-25 with 568,000 arrivals.

Since the appointment of Anthony Albanese as the Prime Minister in May 2022, an estimated 2.47 million immigrants arrived in Australia with net overseas migration at 1.5 million.

Australian Home Affairs statistics show that India provides the highest number of permanent migrants to Australia, followed by China, the Philippines, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Vietnam, South Africa and Brazil.

However, the record-high immigration in the country has led to a hike in rental and housing prices, resulting in a surge in support for One Nation. Moreover, as per official data, a whopping 33,000 residents left Sydney while 8,600 left Melbourne due to a rise in the immigrant population, elevating concerns for and from native residents.

As per The Noticer, Assistant Minister for International Education Julian Hill said Australia still welcomed “genuine international students seeking high-quality education.” “Decisions on student visas are made on the merits of each individual application and the government won’t back off on strong integrity measures to weed out non-genuine students,” he said.

(With Agencies inputs)