Key Points
- The ABS estimates more than 200,000 international students arrived in Australia in February 2025, the highest number ever.
- Opposition leader Peter Dutton says a limit on the number of international students would allow Australians to 'afford homes again'.
- Some experts say that instead of capping arrivals, focus should be on ousting those who have reached their visa limits.
When Sandeep Langeh applied for his Australian student visa, he was asked to pay a fee of Rs 90,000 (about A$1,600), almost double what his friends had paid a couple of months earlier.
The 21-year-old from Jammu, northern India, said he was "a bit disappointed" by the high visa fee, which made him "consider the UK as a second option".
Still, Australia won out in the end.
Since arriving in December 2024, Langeh has been living with friends in a share house and he described the significant Indian diaspora down under as a "comforting blanket".
"I was aiming to study my master's degree in Australia as I believed that the country's education quality is amongst the best in the world," he told SBS Punjabi.
He also cited the country's weather and "stable" economic and political conditions as reasons for his choice.
The Australian government has toughened its entry rules for international students to damper demand. Credit: Pexels
This week, Federal Opposition leader Peter Dutton said to the number of foreign students admitted to public universities under an elected Coalition government.
He said a reduction in foreign students would help Australians "afford homes again" by bringing down the cost of living.
Tightened rules for international students
Over the past year, the Australian government has tightened student visa regulations, introducing increased English language requirements and .
Last year, the Coalition opposed Labor's
These measures came as the government aimed to limit overall migration.
In 2023, then Minister of Home Affairs Clare O'Neil announced a by reducing "permanent temporary migration" and shifting focus to "skilled migration".
Talking to SBS Punjabi last year, Vicki Thomson, chief executive of the Group of Eight universities, said fewer international students could mean the for Australian colleges, and economic losses for the nation.
"We (Go8) invest about annually. We receive $2.8 billion from the federal government, the large majority from international fee revenue."
Student arrivals surpass pre-pandemic levels
Despite efforts to curb the influx, the latest data reveals that international student arrivals have surged to a record high, surpassing pre-pandemic levels.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 201,490 international students arrived in Australia in February 2025.
According to the data, 183,900 people arrived in Australia in February 2019 on temporary student visas.
As of 30 June 2024, there were 608,262 student visa holders in Australia. This was an increase of 6.9 per cent when compared with 30 June 2023.
The Department of Home Affairs also had 113,188 student primary visa applications on hand by the end of June 2024 — a 187.4 per cent increase when compared with 30 June 2023.
'Need to limit prolonged stays'
Dutton's recent comments have stoked debate.
Independent media commentator and former deputy secretary of the Department of Immigration, Abul Rizvi, took to social media platforms to call out the Coalition's announcement as "rubbish".
He said as, and would have minimal impact on the housing crisis.
Ravi Lochan Singh, the director of Global Reach, one of the largest education agencies in South Asia, claimed that introducing artificial caps is "not a great strategy" to limiting migration.
Ravi Lochan Singh. Credit: Facebook/Ravi Lochan Singh/AMOL
In the year up till 30 June 2023, 305,962 people applied for a subsequent visa after finishing their student visa.
The number dropped to nearly half by 30 June 2024 when 163,236 people on student visas applied for a subsequent visa.
The drop came after the Australian government announced in a bid to continue their stay in Australia, one temporary visa after the other.
A also found that one in three international graduates returned to further study, "mostly in cheaper vocational courses, to prolong their stay in Australia".
"Comparing with one year ago, the visa grant rate has increased, especially since January 2025, even though the number of visa applications has come down since the increase in the visa fees (in 2024)," Singh said.
"I am expecting that for the full calendar year it will be fewer student visas, but there will be more quality students and there will be a higher visa grant rate."
'Put nation first, not universities'
With the , immigration matters have attracted political heat.
Shadow Minister for Education Sarah Henderson said: "The Albanese Government's complete failure to manage international student numbers has created an immigration mess, fuelling the Labor housing crisis and putting massive strain on Australia’s infrastructure and essential services.”
Mentioning that the number of international students in Australia is at a record 853,045, up 9 per cent since December 2023, she claimed that the Coalition would "restore balance".
“A responsible government puts the national interest first, not the interests of elite universities who continue to bring in record numbers of foreign students," she said.
"That’s why we have flagged a tougher, more effective cap on international students — one that will rein in excessive numbers in our overburdened capital cities, particularly Melbourne and Sydney, where two-thirds of foreign students live and study."
Education Minister Jason Clare has previously called out Dutton for his opposition to Labor's proposed bill to cap international student numbers.
"Peter Dutton might pretend to be a tough guy on immigration, but the truth is he's a fraud," .
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Despite tight visa rules, international students arrival numbers break all record
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