Study abroad: Signs of revival, but students wary of online teaching, say Chandigarh immigration consultants

The number of applications being received from students wanting to study abroad is much lower than that in the previous years

With many countries allowing students to enrol for online courses and resumption of visa processing, immigration consultancies are witnessing signs of revival after months of inactivity amid the Covid pandemic.

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However, the number of applications being received from students wanting to study abroad is much lower than that in the previous years. There are over 200 immigration consultancies in Chandigarh.

Navneet Singh, an immigration consultant and a representative of Association of Overseas Education Consultants, Chandigarh, said that they have received only around 200 applications since last month. “Countries have started providing every indicator except travel clearance. Visa processing has also started. But we have witnessed a dip of around 50% in the applications from the students.”

According to immigration experts, over 90% colleges and universities in Canada will start online teaching in September. “I think students will be able to travel to the UK for September intake and they have also put proper travel protocol in place but for Canada students will be able to go for January 2021,” said Singh.

Immigration experts say over one-lakh students from Punjab and Chandigarh go to foreign countries, including Australia, Canada and UK, to pursue higher education every year. At this time of the year, the applications are received in high numbers for the September intake in many foreign countries. However, this year the numbers are low.

“Most students are preferring January 2021 intake as compared to September. Most do not want to study online and only those who were stuck due to lockdown are applying for September intake. Since last month, we have received around 35 applications for Canada and 15 to 20 each for Australia and the UK,” said Rakehshwar Walia, from an immigration and education consultancy based in Khanna.

“As Canada has started a new visa processing programme, we have also started processing applications from students. The Canadian government in the initial approval allows students to enrol for online classes. In the second stage, they will be given a visa for travelling, once the situation is under control. We have also started processing applications for Australia as well but the number of students is less this time. We hope things will be back on track in future,” said Jatin Wadhwa, director of a Chandigarh-based international education consultancy.