Since March 2018, over 13,700 student visa holders have applied for asylum. This does not include temporary graduate visa holders who may have applied for asylum. The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) uses the number of asylum applications by student visa holders as a risk indicator which can lead to an increase in offshore student visa refusals (but gives this indicator a relatively low weight).
Students applying for asylum in 2018 averaged around 100 per month. This was a relatively small portion of total asylum applications in 2018 which averaged well over 2,000 per month. While overall asylum applications during covid fell with international borders closed, asylum applications from student visa holders actually increased during this period. This was particularly the case for students from China.
By far the largest student source nation providing asylum applications since March 2018 was China at 4,170, followed by Malaysia (2,099), India (1,193), Thailand (802), Pakistan (610), Nepal........