New Department of Home Affairs data released on 6 May shows that 38 per cent of Sri Lankan student-visa applications lodged in February 2026 were refused, a sharp jump that mirrors broader integrity crack-downs across South-Asian source markets. Under Ministerial Direction 115—introduced last year—case officers must apply a stricter ‘genuine student’ test and link refusal thresholds to an education provider’s compliance risk rating. As providers exceed their enrolment buffers, applications are slowed or rejected outright. Sri Lanka now joins Nepal (65 per cent), Bangladesh (51 per cent) and India (40 per cent) in a high-risk cohort, while China’s refusal rate remains just 3.5 per cent. For universities and vocational colleges, higher refusal rates jeopardise semester-two intake targets and reduce fee revenue; several regional institutions have already flagged potential staff cuts. Students face longer processing queues, higher evidentiary burdens and the risk of forfeiting non-refundable tuition deposits if visas are denied. Corporate mobility teams that use the student-to-graduate-visa pipeline to secure junior talent—particularly in IT and nursing—should anticipate a smaller pool of graduates from South Asia in 2027-28 and may need to expand recruitment efforts in alternative markets such as Vietnam or Latin America.
Source: VisaVerge
