IN FOCUS: Will restrictions on student visas take the shine off studying abroad?

SINGAPORE: Every year, scores of students from Singapore head overseas to study, lured by the attractions of a new environment, and opportunities for independence and self-growth. 

But what usually is a smooth application pathway for Singaporeans has been hit with some measure of uncertainty in the past year.  

Some countries, including those popular with Singaporean students, are tightening visa restrictions for people travelling overseas to pursue their education. 

At the start of the year, the UK sought to curb the number of immigrants by banning postgraduate students who were not doing research courses from bringing dependants with them.

Canada announced a two-year cap on study permit applications in January, designed to temporarily reduce the number of foreign students arriving on its shores.

Closer to home, Australia proposed international student caps which involve allocating a quota for each higher education institution for 2025.

Compared to their international peers, Singaporeans typically make up a small proportion of foreign students overseas, but reverberations have been felt by those in the industry.

What do the restrictions mean for Singaporeans, and where does that leave those with an appetite for an overseas education? 
 

WHAT IS REALLY HAPPENING? 

In each of these countries, wrangling over domestic issues like the cost of living has been the common refrain for cutting back on immigrants, who are blamed by some for competing with locals over necessities and pushing up prices.

“What you see in the UK, and also more broadly among developed economies, is the tension revolving (around) the cost of living, housing shortages, competition for jobs … and certainly migration and the presence of the grad students in the UK fuel perceived displacement,” said Dr Leong Chan-Hoong, Senior Fellow and head of social cohesion research programme at Nanyang Technological University’s S Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS). 

Canada’s immigration department said rapid increases in the number of international students placed pressure on housing, healthcare and other services. Its cap is expected to result in a decrease of 35 per cent approved study permits in 2024, compared to 2023. A small number of Singaporeans go there to study - 410 in 2023. 

The UK is similarly seeking to pare back migration levels by limiting the growing number of visas granted to dependants of foreign students. According to the BBC, 135,788 visas were granted to dependants in 2022, a jump from 54,486 in 2021, and 19,139 in 2020. 

However, the government stopped short of scrapping a graduate visa, which allows international students to work in the UK for two to three years after finishing their course. 

More students from Singapore head to the UK than Canada, with 6,235 enrolling there for the academic year 2022/2023. 

“The foremost political challenge (in these countries) is to reassure their constituents that the interest of their domestic residents will be taken care of,” Dr Leong said. Dr Leong was the Principal Investigator of a study about how overseas and locally-based Singaporeans view citizenship and belonging against the backdrop of global uncertainties.

On whether such moves are unprecedented, experts said that immigration concerns are  a recurring theme.

“Historically if you look at immigration sentiments, it fluctuates. It's almost like a pendulum that swings towards both ends depending on the prevailing political values of the day,” said Dr Leong.

“So there's a lot of ripple effects that we all feel today, and that's really a reflection of the interconnectedness that we experience in terms of global economy and global social climate.”

SMALL RIPPLES SO FAR IN THE OVERSEAS EDUCATION INDUSTRY

That ripple has clearly been felt among consultants who help Singaporeans study abroad. 

Overseas education agency TheRightU said that students heading to the UK are mostly unaffected as they do not bring their families with them. 

Director Chan Khai Leok said that Singaporeans generally expect to return home after completing their studies, compared with other students who take education as a means of relocation. 

Recent factors, including the visa policy changes, have had minimal impact on prospective Singaporean students interested in studying in the UK, Universities UK International told CNA. 

"From January to June 2024, following the policy’s introduction, the number of study visas granted to main applicants from Singapore reduced by just 2.6 per cent compared to the same period the previous year,” a spokesperson said. 

“The government’s commitment to maintaining the graduate visa on its current terms will have been welcome news for prospective students from Singapore, providing a competitive post-study offer.

"We hope that the resilience and commitment of Singaporean students to obtain a world-class education will persist as the UK continues to recover from this difficult period."

The same could not be said for Australia, which sees comparable numbers of Singaporean students. 

Dr Chan has seen disruptions in what is usually a fast and straightforward application process for Singaporeans. 

“Fortunately, no Singaporean citizens have been rejected. However, we have noticed an increase in spot checks on local students. They were asked to provide documents that were not previously required, though their applications were still approved.”

Late last year, visa applications that typically took two to three weeks to turn around were delayed by as long as three to four months for a handful of students, and a month for others. 

"That was completely unexpected, but it wasn’t just us. We discussed this with peers in the industry, and they shared the same experience,” Dr Chan told CNA. 

"It felt as though the applications had been overlooked. At first, we thought it was an isolated case, but when a second and third case appeared, it became clear that the delays were not due to oversight.

"Then there were periods where we didn’t get any approvals at all.”

On Dec 11 last year, Australia said it would tighten visa rules for international students and low-skilled workers as the government sought to overhaul what it said was a "broken" migration system. 

In a report released on the same day, the government outlined measures for international students, who will need higher ratings on English tests.

English language requirements were tightened in March, and the amount of savings international students need to qualify for a visa was raised in May to A$29,710 (S$26,162) from A$24,505 - the second increase in about seven months.

Dr Chan said a few students had to defer their studies because of the delay, with one person  receiving his approval just a day before he was due to fly. 

Then on Jul 1, Australia increased visa application fees from A$710 to A$1,600, introducing yet more uncertainty. 

Students who paid the new fee amount heard back quickly, while others who paid the original fee continued to face delays, Dr Chan said. 

UPHEAVAL IN AUSTRALIA’S UNIVERSITY SCENE 

The changes to Australia’s university system have caused uproar among industry players there. 

The latest proposed measure - also its most drastic - is a limit on international students that will cap new enrolments across the country to 270,000 for 2025, a 16 per cent decrease from 2023. While the situation is still developing, latest reports state that 15 universities will have their numbers slashed, while 23 will be able to enrol more students. 

Apart from migration levels, the reforms are meant to target unethical education providers - including “ghost colleges” - that exploit the system by offering poor standards of education or training but are actually a backdoor for people to work in the country. 

However, the tertiary education sector has criticised the move as damaging. 

 "It's a really complex situation,” Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology's (RMIT) Professor Catherine Gomes said. 

"In Melbourne's state of Victoria, where I am, international education is the largest services export industry,” said the School of Media and Communication professor, who has published work on international student wellbeing. 

An international student can support anywhere from four to six domestic student places from the amount of school fees they pay. 

Yet at the same time, they are perceived as competing with locals for jobs and housing. 

"The weird undercurrents are happening and again international students are easy to blame because they are not your voting public, because they are temporary. Permanent residents have skin in the game but with temporary migrants they don't,” she said. 
 

HAVE SINGAPOREANS FELT ANTI-IMMIGRATION SENTIMENTS?

Even as Australia looks to tighten student visa rules to soothe some citizens’ concerns, some Singaporeans already studying there told CNA that locals remain generally welcoming and friendly, although there have been a few rare incidents of xenophobia.

At Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra, fourth-year undergraduate Kymberly Chan described incidents of “microaggression”, including someone who had yelled at her and her friends to “go back home”. 

“Cultural ignorance is also something I’ve encountered whereby quite a few people have assumed things about my culture or had negative stereotypes when approaching me," said the 22-year-old, who is doing a flexible double degree in arts and criminology. 

Across the state, University of New South Wales (UNSW) Sydney arts and business undergraduate Natalie Hooi, 22, had a similar experience.

“There was one instance when I was walking with two friends, and we were laughing out loud when a homeless person across the street yelled, ‘Stop laughing, go back to your country!’ 

“We chose to ignore it, and after we passed by, my friend Isaac shouted, ‘I want to!’ We laughed it off, but it was an interesting experience.”

Fellow schoolmate Byron Tan, a fourth-year medicine student who is also the president of the UNSW Singapore Students’ Association said he had not felt any discrimination, attributing it to the diverse demographic of Sydney, where his campus is located.

“Sydney is very diversified, and you can walk around mingling with the locals as if you are (their) own. I have personally not felt any stigmatism or racism within Sydney, as a large proportion residing are also Asians,” said Mr Tan, 24. 

Another ANU undergraduate, Ms Karis Chua, has experienced some discrimination while in her first year of study for a flexible double degree in law and business administration.

"I have noticed that some people choose not to interact with me initially because of assumptions of my language ability based on my appearance,” the 19-year-old said. 

"So, it takes a great deal of confidence for me to push myself to be more extroverted and start conversations with them."

It has also hampered her job-seeking efforts. Ms Chua said she applied to more than 30 workplaces via online portals but did not receive any replies. 

"I remember being confused because I had quite a substantial track record of work experience and great references. I asked my Australian friend about it, and he speculated that my non-English last name led companies to assume that I had a limited command of English,” she said. 

From then, Ms Chua printed her resumes and visited stores in-person to show her enthusiasm and abilities. She finally landed a job in a cafe. 

"While such instances can be discouraging, they were not entirely unexpected, as I recognise that local candidates often have access to more opportunities," she said. 

RMIT's Prof Gomes pointed out that international students like Ms Chua often worked while studying in highly visible roles like platform delivery work, giving the mistaken impression that foreigners were competing for work even though locals did not care for such jobs. 

“So during COVID, a lot of international students found that they lost their jobs, their casual jobs … so they were the ones doing things like cleaning, your public cleaning. If you ever come to Australia, the person who is delivering your Uber Eats is most probably an international student.”

During the pandemic, the government had also turned to Australians to pick fruit on farms, a job usually handed to South Pacific Islanders on a special visa. 

However, locals passed up the opportunity and international students snapped them up instead. 

"A lot of international students … balance study with work. So there’s that added xenophobia, that, 'oh my god, they're taking jobs away from us' but the thing is that the jobs that they do, like every developed country around the world, the jobs that migrants do, are the kind of jobs that the citizens don't want to do. 

"So for me, at least in Australia, I also see international students as supporting the Australian public, by all these things that they also do."

ARE SINGAPOREANS UNFAIRLY PENALISED?

The community of Singapore students in foreign countries is typically a small one. The 5,986 Singaporean students who enrolled to Australia in the first five months of this year, for example, pale in comparison to the more than 153,000 and more than 118,000 students from China and India, respectively.   

Despite their small numbers, academics think Singaporeans may have an edge over their peers precisely because of nationality. 

"Singapore, by and large, has a very good international reputation in terms of the conduct of students and the professionals," noted Dr Leong.

"When landlords know that a Singaporean is looking for a place to stay at their property they are more willing to offer them the place than nationals from other countries where they have had a bad experience renting out." 

In that aspect, the red passport does offer “some advantage”, he noted. 

Although, Dr Leong acknowledged that the opposite does happen - where Chinese Singaporeans are sometimes confused with those from China.  

Prof Gomes assumed that part of the cap will be based on the student’s ability to actually qualify for the university that they are applying to - in other words how good their grades are. In her experience, Singapore students have impressed with their strong language skills.
 
Dr Chan of theRightU has not heard of any university that might decide its composition of international students based on nationality, but suggested that universities may plan recruitment activities in a way that reflects that. 

Universities could choose to be more selective with their scholarships or tailor their budgets or activities towards markets they want to woo. 

ANU told CNA that it was still working on how the changes could be implemented from next year and the impact of the cap on its finances. The university enrols between 100 and 200 Singapore students each year. 

"Singaporean students have selected ANU as their university of choice for many years and we remain committed to this ongoing partnership,” a representative said. 

Asked about its strategies to woo Singapore students especially in the face of the ongoing uncertainty, the university pointed to its ANU Chancellor’s International Scholarship, available to Singapore students. 

It also held its most recent international information day in Singapore in July, which attracted nearly 300 registrations from prospective students and their parents.

"We understand that certainty is vital in deciding where to study. We want to assure our prospective students that ANU will not rescind any offers already made to international students for 2025."

The Group of Eight (Go8), a body representing eight of Australia's leading research-intensive universities including ANU and UNSW Sydney, said more than 4,000 higher education enrolments were from Singaporeans at its universities in 2023. The number comprises 70 per cent of total higher education enrolments from Singapore. 
 
These students have predominantly studied in the disciplines of health, society and culture, management and commerce, and natural and physical sciences at Go8 universities.

The body's deputy chief executive, Dr Matthew Brown, reiterated his opposition to the international student cap, warning that such curbs would likely see a significant reduction in demand as top students elect to study elsewhere. 

Citing the visa fee increase and crackdown on visa approvals for international students, Dr Brown said: "We are concerned that this will reverse the diversification of countries from which students come, at the very time the Government is encouraging our universities to attract quality students from the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) region." 
 
"As Australia’s higher education works through this potentially damaging period, the Go8 will continue to engage closely with our regional neighbours to demonstrate our quality education offering and to build on the deep education and research relationships developed over many decades."
 

OVERSEAS EDUCATION STILL A BOON

Students CNA spoke to were attracted by Australia’s proximity to Singapore, its cultural environment, and the courses offered by universities.  

The opportunity for independence and self-growth afforded by living alone was another part of the equation for them. 

Experts observed that recent measures were unlikely to dampen Singaporean's enthusiasm for overseas study given its benefits. 

There has always been a very strong interest to be immersed in another environment, RSIS' Dr Leong said. 

"If you look at the proportion of overseas Singaporeans, that proportion has been quite consistent, if not steadily growing."

The rate of overseas Singaporeans stands at about 5 per cent to 6 per cent of our population, equivalent to one out of every 20 persons, said Dr Leong. 

"That's a very sizable proportion globally, and that's also reflected in other indicators, like transnational marriage, which has been quite consistent at about 30 per cent. So that reflects the cosmopolitan, multicultural nature of the demography."

This also meant citizens were susceptible to political and economical headwinds of global events. 

"Nevertheless, I think the world is an oyster, there will always be other potential markets that they can explore, and they just have to go with the flow, so to speak,” said Dr Leong. 

Students themselves did not see recent updates as a surprise. 

UNSW Sydney’s Mr Tan said the Singapore Students’ Association, which counts about 340 active members, felt that the cap was "somewhat necessary" after hearing feedback and concern about the costs of living in Sydney. 

ANU's Ms Chua expressed similar sentiments. 

"Personally, I do understand where they come from because it is true that over 60 per cent of students here at ANU are international. Many people I know also come here to study, intending to remain as permanent residents here."

She noted that the rules were also to tackle errant players taking advantage of the loopholes in the system. 

“However, (if) I were to be denied the opportunity to study abroad because of this regulation, I would undoubtedly be extremely disheartened,” she said. 

"I know many like-minded people who specifically chose to study overseas because they sincerely had the passion for it, or because Singapore just does not offer the course that they want to pursue. 

"While the restriction does help filter out the people abusing loopholes, it will disadvantage many who just want to spend a part of their education overseas."