Australia denies students visas if they have TNE alternatives

Australian universities’ government-sanctioned move into transnational education is prompting officials to refuse visas for foreign students hoping to travel Down Under, according to some of those affected. 

Posts on Reddit, Facebook and LinkedIn suggest that Sri Lankan visa applicants are the latest to experience widespread rejections on the grounds that they have failed the “genuine student” test because it would be easier for them to study at home.

Insiders say a duplicated line – “the applicant failed to articulate reasonable motives for not undertaking similar courses available to them in their home country” – is a standard justification in visa rejection letters sent to applicants from India, Pakistan and, more recently, Sri Lanka.

Ayodhya Akalanka Kodagoda, a Galle-based education agent, said the phrase had appeared in a “flood” of visa rejection letters in February. “Many of these applicants had completed Australian foundation or diploma programmes in Sri Lanka. They were applying to continue in Australia in courses also delivered locally by Australian providers.”

Kodagoda said students had many reasons for wanting to study overseas, from multicultural immersion and development of research networks to post-study work opportunities and global employability. “These are difficult to replicate offshore, even when the curriculum is identical.”

Sri Lanka has been a focus of Australian efforts to develop jointly delivered courses and offshore campuses at the federal government’s urging. Charles Sturt University recently announced plans to emulate Curtin and Edith Cowan universities by establishing an outpost on the island.

University of Technology Sydney has a pathway college in Colombo, while William Angliss Institute – a public vocational and higher education college specialising in hospitality and tourism – delivers courses through a Colombo-based partner.

“There are strong signals that another major Australian university from South Australia is entering soon,” Kodagoda said. “If local delivery continues expanding, students will increasingly be asked: ‘If you can study the same qualification in Sri Lanka, why go to Australia?’”

The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) said local access to similar courses was among the factors officials considered in assessing whether would-be students were genuine. Applicants should explain why they had decided against studying locally in their visa paperwork, a spokeswoman said.

Sri Lanka has been Australia’s second fastest-growing major source country for international enrolments. The DHA downgraded its immigration risk rating in January, amid integrity concerns over South Asian student flows.

Rejections of Sri Lankan higher education visa applications have been on the rise, according to the latest available DHA statistics. In the second half of last year, average grant rates fell to 89 per cent from 94 per cent in the equivalent period of 2024. DHA said there had been another “significant decrease” in student visa grant rates following the January risk ratings change.

Refusal rates have risen for both offshore and onshore applicants. Social media posts ask whether it is worth reapplying, or – for students already in Australia – appealing to the Administration Review Tribunal (ART). Student visa application fees cost A$2,000 (£1,043), while ART migration appeals cost A$3,580 each.

ART appeals processes have changed following a legislative tweak aimed at whittling down a backlog of more than 50,000 pending student visa cases. An amendment to the Migration Act, passed by parliament on 5 February, would make ART decisions more “timely” by allowing student visa appeals to be determined without holding oral hearings.

Meanwhile, political pressure over immigration – and, by extension, international education – is on the rise following changes in the Liberal-National party coalition’s front bench. Opposition leader Angus Taylor, who unseated his more centrist predecessor Sussan Ley on 13 February, foreshadowed a focus on immigration in a press conference immediately after the coup.

“We’ll stand for an immigration policy that puts the interests of Australians first, and puts Australian values at the centre of that policy,” he said. “If someone doesn’t subscribe to our core beliefs, the door must be shut.”

Taylor later told the ABC that “we need an immigration policy that raises the standards [and] reduces the numbers because the standards have been too low and the numbers have been too high”.

An immigration policy developed under Ley’s leadership, leaked several days after her ousting, reportedly proposed a complete ban on people from some global regions and a requirement for temporary migrants to sign an “Australian values statement” – and face deportation for breaching it.

Taylor told the ABC that the policy had “no validity” following his elevation. But the broadcaster reported that he was considering adopting a UK government policy of suspending visas for nationals of countries whose governments obstructed efforts to deport their citizens with cancelled visas.

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com