The number of study visa applications lodged with Immigration New Zealand in India plummeted last year, as did the proportion of failed applications, Immigration figures show.

The agency's India staff considered 9429 study visa applications in 2017, down from 16,380 in 2016 and 25,977 in 2015.

They approved 6425 of the Indian applications and declined 3004, for a decline rate of 32 percent, down from more than 50 percent in 2015 and 2016.

The improvement follows the introduction of tougher rules prompted by a surge of fraudulent applications.
In the Philippines, 1148 applicants were approved last year and 397 or 26 percent were refused.

Immigration turned down 368 applications from applicants in Nepal, 52 percent of the total it received, while in Sri Lanka it approved 552 applications and refused 257 or 32 percent.

In Vietnam, 960 applications were approved, and 296 or 24 percent were refused.

In China, 7327 applications were approved and 542 declined for a decline rate of 7 percent.

Students from countries with offshore visa decline rates of more than 20 percent must meet tougher English language requirements in order to gain a study visa.

(Source RNZeducation, John Gerritsen)