Student Visa Approval Rate Jan - Dec 2015

Major student markets such as India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Turkey had less than 50 per cent approval rates for New Zealand student visas in 2015, according to full-year figures published by Immigration New Zealand(INZ). Several other source countries including Nigeria, Vietnam, the Philippines and Sri Lanka were also below the 80 per cent threshold established by INZ last year for English language verification. Under the new rules, Category 1- or 2-rated institutions can verify the English ability of students from countries above the threshold as they see fit, but student visa applicants from countries below 80 per cent in the previous calendar year must provide an internationally verified English language exam. India, New Zealand's second largest student recruitment market, had an approval rate of 49 per cent in 2015. Nonetheless, there was a still a significant overall increase in student visas issued to Indian students, as recently reported in the full-year student visa dashboard data published by Education New Zealand. Bangladesh had a success rate of 19 per cent, meaning some 1,354 applications were denied. Only 46 per cent of student visa applicants from Nepal were successful, Pakistan had an approval rate of 32 per cent, and Turkey - albeit with relatively small numbers - had only 25 per cent approved. The full list of approval rates is on the INZ website. By Matthew Knott News Editor