Update on Australian International Student Visa Applications September 2024

International student visa applications to Australia have seen a dramatic decrease, plummeting by half following the government’s recent measures to reduce the country’s migrant intake.

According to data from the Department of Education, as reported to the Sydney Morning Herald, only 15,270 applications were lodged from overseas in August 2024. This marks a significant drop from 30,703 applications in August 2023. The decline was also evident in July, with 18,697 offshore student visa applications submitted in 2024 compared to 36,207 in the same month of the previous year.

This downward trend comes in the wake of the government’s decision to limit the number of international students in Australia to 270,000 for 2025, an increase in the application fee for international student visas to AUD$1,600, and the recent introduction of caps on education providers. These actions are part of a larger strategy aimed at managing Australia’s migrant intake, which has reached record-high levels.

The new data highlights significant drops in visa applications from key source countries. India, the second-largest source of international students in Australia, experienced a 66.4% decrease in applications. The combined total for July and August 2023 was 13,047, which fell sharply to 4,383 during the same period in 2024. Similarly, applications from the Philippines saw a steep fall from 5,126 to just 849, and Pakistan’s numbers dropped from 4,234 to 616.

In contrast, China, saw a smaller decline, with a reduction of less than 10% in visa applications between 2023 and 2024.

In response to these policy changes, various bodies and organisations warned the Australian government that these repercussions would have a serious economic impact on international education in Australia. It was reported that these restrictions could cost the Australian economy billions of dollars and lead to significant job losses within the higher education sector.