According to the government agency, the number of study visas approved in New Zealand until June 2023 has reached 62,011.
The results, revealed on June 3, are lower than the 83,733 approved in the 2019–20 academic year, but they show recovery after the significant decline during the COVID-19 outbreak, when the country’s borders were restricted.
The results for 2022–23 show that rejections of applications from India have increased in number. In total, 7,263 study visa applications were approved, compared to 2,360 refusals from India.
More than 1,000 student visa applications were received from around 13 countries, including 2,928 from the Philippines, 2,812 from South Africa, 2,409 from the United States, and 2,313 from South Korea.
Around 13,000 of the 41,953 first-time students come from non-top 10 sending countries. China is at the top with 8,512 applications, followed by India with 5,826 and then the Philippines with around 2,500 applications.
Rejection rates among Indian applicants are close to pre-Covid levels but have not reached the mid-2010s peak. In the academic year 2014–15, around 11,000 Indian student visa applications were rejected; on the other hand, nearly 21,000 were approved.
In 2013–14, 2,662 applications were refused, while 14,917 were approved.
Approved visas for English language study will number around 5,000 in 2022–23, showing a decrease from the peak of 15,649 in 2017–18.
The country tried to increase its international student population growth with “quality” as a fundamental component of its international education strategy.
The recent increase in applications is considerable and reveals a “good start considering our borders have not been open for a year”.
Diversity has always been a key factor for English New Zealand members in the country’s ELT market, with some universities currently hosting nationalities between 20 and 30.
