5 Australian Universities Impose Restrictions On Indian Students Amidst Surge In Fraudulent Applications

5 Australian universities have imposed restrictions or bans on Indian students due to a rise in fraudulent applications from South Asia.

Melbourne: At least 5 Australian universities have imposed restrictions or bans on students from certain Indian states due to a rise in fraudulent applications from South Asia. The applications are allegedly from individuals seeking work rather than study opportunities in Australia. Despite these challenges, Australia is expected to welcome its largest-ever intake of Indian students, surpassing the previous record of 75,000 set in 2019, news agency PTI reported. 

The recent surge in fraudulent applications from South Asia seeking work rather than study opportunities in Australia has raised concerns among lawmakers and the education sector. According to a report in The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper on Tuesday, there are worries about the integrity of Australia's immigration system and the potential long-term impact on the country's highly lucrative international education market.

“The volume of students arriving has come back a lot stronger than anyone was expecting,” Jon Chew from global education firm Navitas was further reported as saying. 

“We knew there would be a lot of pent-up demand, but there has also been a surge in non-genuine students,” Chew added.

With many applications deemed by universities not to meet Australian visa requirements that they are a “genuine temporary entrant” coming solely for education, universities are putting restrictions in place to pre-empt their “risk rating” being downgraded, the report said.

The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald newspapers conducted an investigation and obtained emails that reveal a crackdown on applications from Indian students within Victoria University, Edith Cowan University, the University of Wollongong, Torrens University, and agents working for Southern Cross University.

The universities that have imposed restrictions on students from certain Indian states are reportedly worried that the Australian Home Affairs department may reduce their ability to expedite student visa applications due to the high number of fraudulent applications from individuals seeking work rather than study opportunities in Australia. This could have a negative impact on their ability to attract and enroll genuine international students.

In February, Perth’s Edith Cowan University placed an outright ban on applicants from the Indian states of Punjab and Haryana, then in March, Victoria University increased restrictions on student applications from eight Indian states, including Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat.

The restrictions placed by some Australian universities on students from certain Indian states coincided with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's recent visit to India.

Crucially, the agreement included a “mutual recognition of qualifications between Australia and India”, which will make travelling to either country for university study easier.

In March, the University of Wollongong imposed stricter conditions on its "genuine temporary entrant" test for students from several countries including India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Lebanon, Mongolia, Nigeria, and any other countries considered to pose a risk by the Australian Department of Home Affairs. 

A spokeswoman for Adelaide’s Torrens University said it too was “now looking carefully at each area where our applications come from” after the university told The Times Higher Education in March that it was considering only “very strong” applications from Gujarat, Haryana, and Punjab.

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