Work visas for foreign students in India

From the ramparts of Delhi’s Red Fort on India’s 77^th Independence Day last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterated “we want to create such (higher education) institutions that attract people from abroad to come to Bharat instead, we have revived the pride of Bihar’s glorious history by reconstructing Nalanda University.” These words reflect Modi’s vision to make India a Vishwa Guru (global teacher) like it once was in its ancient past, a time when international students traversed hundreds of kilometers to study in universities like Nalanda and Takshashila in the Indian Subcontinent.

The first step to achieving this was an overhaul of India’s Higher Education Institutions (IHEIs) with the passing of the (New) National Education Policy 2020. Most Indian universities and colleges have since undergone seismic changes in their syllabi, pedagogy, and infrastructure to bring them on a par with global standards. New regulations and rules, like the digital credits’ locker ABC (Academic Bank of Credits), increase student mobility across IHEIs, and if they choose to do a semester or two overseas.

The 2025 Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Global Universities rankings testify to these efforts. Nine Indian universities figured in the Top 50, and 79 in the top 500, the latter seeing an addition of 10 institutions from a year ago. The aim of the government is two-fold: retain Indian talent at home and attract more foreign students to India.

So far, it has not achieved the first. In 2024, a record 1.33 million Indian students went overseas for higher education against 1.32 million in 2022. The increase in absolute terms of 11,000 students.

But these numbers may reduce due to recent caps on student visas, increased financial burden, and stringent rules in transitioning to a work permit post study, introduced by four of the world’s most popular higher education destinations for Indians, namely, Canada, Australia, the UK and the U.S., changes that take effect in 2025.

Canada cut its intake of foreign students by 35% in 2024, and will reduce it by a further 10% to just 4,35,000 students. It has also doubled its Guaranteed Investment Certificate from $7,000 $14,300. Australia’s new National Planning Level (NPL) cap introduced on 27 August 2024, has reduced foreign student intakes from January 2025 to just 270,000 from a student intake of 1,081,300 year-to-date in November 2024. Australia’s Temporary Student Work Visa (485 Visa) now also requires higher English language proficiency scores.

The United Kingdom has increased the financial burden on overseas college students under its Tier 4 Student Visa by upping the health surcharge and proof of maintenance. The seamless transition to a Graduate Route (Work) Visa or a post-study work visa from its student visa is no longer a given, as more stringent compliance regulations have been imposed on universities to ensure only deserving and genuine candidates. Like the UK, the U.S. has increased the Optional Practical Training (OPT) application fees for those doing STEM subjects under the student F1 visa. The OPT enables post-study work for up to three years for STEM students. The health surcharge remains unchanged on the F1 Visas but the financial requirements have doubled from $20,000 to $40,000 per year. And this does not include increases in university fees.

All these changes augur well for India’s fast-evolving higher education ecosystem, not just for retaining Indian students but attracting overseas students to study on Indian campuses, especially the private universities and the IITs and IIMs. These offer globally competitive syllabi with world-class facilities at a quarter of the fees.

The only progressive step forward for the Indian government now is to introduce student work visas like all popular international student destinations do. This can be initiated in a limited way with paid internships during study, and, for STEM students, a limited post-study work visa, something like the OPT in the United States. This will surely accelerate enrolments from countries in Europe and North America, other than the traditional intake from South Asia.[1]

The timing is perfect, not only because of changes in overseas student visa rules but with Europe, and soon Canada, eager to do business and trade with India. India hosted the largest EU delegation and Belgian Business delegations in February-March this year. The change of Prime Minister in Ottawa surely augurs well for India-Canada relations. For these countries, having a cohort of people with experience navigating the Indian regulatory and market environment could be a win-win for both them and India.

Sifra Lentin is Fellow, Bombay History, Gateway House.

This article was exclusively written for Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations. You can read exclusive content here.

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References:

[1] A student work visa was a recommendation made in the November 2023 Gateway House Paper Internationalising Indian Education: Work Visas for Foreign Students