International Student Issues Caution Despite Increased Cap

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Judy has started dreaming about her student visa being granted, only to wake to the stressful reality.

The 28-year-old was initially excited when RMIT University in Melbourne confirmed her enrolment for a postgraduate program last December, having secured a scholarship offer, valid for 12 months.

But eight months after applying for her visa, she’s losing hope it will be approved before her scholarship expires.

“My submission date is December 14 [2024] and nobody called me. Nobody emailed me. There is no update at all,” she told SBS News from Shanghai.

“It’s very weird, I see a lot of people who launched a visa after me, like five or six months, they got the visa already … so I feel like, what happened to my visa?”

The software engineering student said she was advised that her first few calls to the Department of Home Affairs were “too early”.

The department’s visa processing times tool currently has her application in green or “within standard processing timeframe”, stating 90 per cent of subclass 500 visas are processed in 7 months.

As recently as last week, she was told “to be patient”, with no updates to her application material required, saying everything looked good.

On Monday, Education Minister Jason Clare announced that universities can take an additional 25,000 students in 2026, subject to two caveats: providing housing and a focus on Southeast Asia.

The government will issue a new ministerial direction to outline conditions for visa approvals and institution quotas under the National Planning Level, which will allow a total of 295,000 places.

Australian Education Minister Jason Clare says 295,000 international students will be offered placements in 2026. Source: AAP / Lukas Coch

Judy is unsure what the news means for her, but is concerned that the extra spots will be filled by master’s and undergraduate students, not those who do research.

“I think I feel positive, but still worry about it,” she said, and remains exhausted by the thought of having to restart the process with different institutions or countries.

SBS News understands that there is no restriction on the level of qualification for the additional 25,000 places, meaning PhD applicants will be considered.

International students torn about applying to Australia

PhD student applicant Genming Zhang is warning other students not to apply for a student placement to Australia, given the delays and issues with visas.

The 26-year-old from China applied for his visa shortly after receiving his mechanical engineering offer from the University of Technology Sydney in February.

“I actually get two different stages for feeling,” he told SBS News from Sydney.

“First you’re waiting every morning, you open your phone, check your email. Nothing, nothing, nothing. You’re angry.”

Genming Zhang says he has spent around $60,000, including my housing expenses, transportation, and living costs in Sydney since February. Source: Supplied

In response to a complaint to Home Affairs, he was told to wait. He now says he feels helpless and that there is “nothing” he can do.

“I talked to the officer … they cannot give me any suggestions, only waiting and they say they cannot do anything. They cannot help me,” he said.

He says he has spent around $60,000, including my housing expenses, transportation, and living costs in Sydney since February.

Zhang is part of a WeChat group with 463 members, mostly in a similar situation, awaiting visas after an enrolment offer. He now warns others not to apply for Australian schools.

“I will tell them that — please don’t apply for the Australia schools,” he said.

“Don’t put the Australia schools in the first place. It should be the third or the fourth or the five. You should apply for the other countries first because the big problems in the visa.”

However, Nishidhar Borra, president of the Association of Australian Education Representatives in India, said the government’s changes could attract students amid global uncertainty.

“You see students from India are actually confused. Which destination do I choose from at this stage?” he told SBS Hindi.

“We had different news coming out of the USA … Trump effect on students being deported. Similarly, Canada made a lot of changes.” A white paper announcing changes is anticipated shortly in the UK too.

He said Australia had a “clear policy” that shows international students they “contribute to the economy and they are valued”, which was “very good”.

In collaboration with Yudie Huang, SBS Mandarin and Natasha Kaul, SBS Hindi.