Australia's Student Visa Dependents Ban Set to Crush International Education Flows

Australia's ban on visas for students' dependants is expected to have significant impacts on international education flows, but much of the damage has already been done by soaring visa rejections.

Nepal and Bangladesh have attracted some of the highest shares of secondary student visas this decade, with an average of one family member for every three students. However, in recent months, more than four in five student visa applications from these countries have been rejected.

Monash University policy expert Andrew Norton noted that adult secondary student visa holders are likely to be an important aspect of the economics of coming to Australia for some students, as students' family members declared earnings of A$1.3 billion (£690 million) in 2022-23 alone.

The country most affected by the ban is likely to be Bhutan, which claims easily the highest proportion of secondary student visas, with accompanying family members generally outnumbering students. Bhutanese students often come to Australia as married couples, sometimes with children, and take turns to study while their partners work to pay the bills.