New Zealand has denied visas to thousands of Indian students after immigration authorities determined that most of the applicants from the country were not “really coming for studies”, a media report said on Friday.
According to figures provided under the Official Information Act, 51 institutions, including half of New Zealand’s polytechnics, have visa decline rates for Indian students of more than 30%.
At most of these institutions, more than half the applications are being turned down and at one the decline rate is 86%, Radio New Zealand said in a report.
The figures covered the six months from the start of December 2015 to the end of May 2016 and were only for institutions with at least 10 visa applications from Indian students.
They showed that Immigration New Zealand turned down 3,864 visa applications for the institutions, and approved 3,176 during that time.
Immigration New Zealand said that most of the declined applications in the first four months of this year were because it did not believe the applicant was really coming to study, or because it did not believe they had enough money to support themselves.
In 2014, Immigration New Zealand warned New Zealand Qualifications Authority that high refusal rates could indicate problems with tertiary institutions.
{{/usCountry}}In 2014, Immigration New Zealand warned New Zealand Qualifications Authority that high refusal rates could indicate problems with tertiary institutions.
{{/usCountry}}Immigration New Zealand said it had increased its audits of providers with high decline rates and was now assessing information obtained from the 10 establishments it had visited so far.