- New Zealand refused 6,273 student-visa applications from July through September 2026, with the refusal rate reaching 34%.
- Bangladeshi applicants had a 70% refusal rate; the rate for Indian applicants was 39%.
- Officials cited suspected financial and document fraud but said the same requirements apply to applicants of every nationality.
Immigration New Zealand refused 6,273 full-fee student-visa applications between July and September 2026 as it stepped up checks for suspected document and financial fraud. The overall refusal rate reached 34%. It stood at 13% during the 2025–26 financial year.
The latest three-month total nearly matched the 7,503 refusals recorded across the entire previous financial year. Bangladeshi applicants faced a 70% refusal rate during the period, while the rate for Indian applicants was 39%.
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The agency attributed part of the increase to targeted checks on some master’s-level applications and more sophisticated fraud. It said the same assessment requirements still apply to every nationality.
That approach differs from the UK’s. Restrictions introduced there on March 26, 2026, barred new overseas student-visa applications from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan.
Officials found recycled financial proof and reused records
The agency said genuine documents had been altered, reused or repurposed across multiple applications. Financial evidence also appeared in more than one applicant’s file. Some applications included bank statements or other records that did not establish funds the applicant could actually access.
Problems included financial information supplied by recruitment agents or sub-agents that did not accurately represent available money. In some cases, the funds appeared to exist only on paper or could not be verified. Other applicants did not provide enough evidence that they or their sponsors could cover tuition and living costs.
Immigration advisers said agents in India and Bangladesh had increasingly relied on sub-agents to handle large application volumes. Some submitted inaccurate or fraudulent financial details, the advisers said. Demand for study places in the country also grew after Canada and Australia tightened their student-visa systems.
The agency identified recent declined applications from India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Nigeria and China as including concerns about fraud or false or misleading information. It cautioned that those concerns did not apply to all students from those countries.
The agency said there had been “no change to the immigration requirements used to assess student visa applications.” It said officers continue to assess cases against the same requirements, regardless of nationality.
Indian data point to a separate approval gap
A separate set of figures reported in October 2026 showed that 49.3% of offshore applications from India decided between January 1 and September 13, 2026, were approved. The approval rate for Chinese applicants was 94.9% over that period.
Another data set covered 100,382 applications processed through the agency’s ADEPT system between August 18, 2025, and July 29, 2026. It found that 41.2% of offshore Indian applications were declined, compared with 2.4% of Chinese applications.
The two groups also differed in how often officers sought more information after a refusal decision. Only 13% of declined Indian applicants received a request for further information or a potentially prejudicial-information letter. The corresponding figure for Chinese applicants was 50%.
The agency linked part of the gap to financial evidence, including false, misleading or fraudulent information. It also cited cases where families did not have enough money to support the study plans.
Britain has added nationality bans and a tougher university threshold
The UK has also tightened recruitment rules for universities. Institutions risk losing permission to recruit international students if more than 5% of prospective overseas students who hold offers later have their visas refused. The previous threshold was 10%.
Some UK institutions reportedly withdrew offers from applicants from Nigeria, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh over concern that refusal rates could breach those compliance limits. Those decisions are separate from a blanket ban on people from those four countries.
The measures affecting Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan are nationality-based restrictions on new applications. The New Zealand system, by contrast, continues to assess applications individually under common requirements.
Applicants need funds and records that can be checked
Applications should show that tuition and living costs are covered, and explain where the money came from and how long it has been available. A bank statement’s final balance alone may not establish that history. Applicants should also show a credible relationship with a sponsor and consistent information across financial, academic and immigration records.
Course choices should fit the applicant’s academic history and progression. Financial, employment and school records should be authentic and issued directly by the relevant institution, including banks, employers and schools.
The agency has urged applicants from India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan to apply early. It cited high application volumes, particularly ahead of major intakes.
