Key Points
- At least 93 Iranian students are facing visa delays despite having scholarship offers from Australian universities to begin their PhDs here.
- Some students have been in limbo for more than four years.
- A letter co-signed by more than a hundred Australian academics is calling for “ministerial action” on this issue.
It was late one cold night in mid-January 2022 when Farzaneh* received an email she believed would change her life forever: she had received a PhD scholarship from a university in Australia.
“I was so happy that I didn’t sleep at all. I waited the whole night to tell the good news to my parents, to tell them I was going to Australia,” the Iranian mining student told SBS Persian.
Now, almost 20 months later, she wakes up to check her inbox every morning in the hope of seeing an email about her student visa.
“I lodged my visa application on 5 February 2022 and was hoping to receive my visa after two months,” she said.
Farzaneh has a scholarship from the University of South Australia but has been waiting 20 months for an Australian visa. Credit: Supplied
At least 93 Iranian PhD students are facing visa delays
Farzaneh has a scholarship from the University of South Australia (UniSA) for a mining project that she believes is “crucial for Australia’s sustainable development goals”.
She is among dozens of Iranian, Indian, Pakistani and Chinese students living in limbo while waiting for Australian student visas.
In March 2023, following an SBS News story, dozens of Iranian PhD students had their Australian student visas approved.
During that month, 401 student visas were granted to Iranian citizens, according to the Department of Home Affairs.
This number had reduced significantly by July.
A department spokesperson told SBS Persian that "in July 2023, 138 student visas were granted to Iranian citizens, and the median processing time for decisions on primary student visa applications lodged by Iranian citizens was 14 calendar days."
The Department of Home Affairs' website says 90 per cent of student visas for PhD students are processed within 58 days.
However, Iranian students say they are among those facing lengthier waits.
The International Community of Iranian Academics (ICOIA) in Australia provided the Department of Home Affairs with a list of 102 Iranian student visa applicants, of which 93.1 per cent have been waiting more than 58 days for processing, including 50 students who have waiting for more than six months.
“Iranian students are clearly falling through the cracks in a visa system that’s already hostile and hard to navigate. It is appalling that the government is refusing to speed up student visas," Senator Mehreen Faruqi, Deputy Greens Leader and Education spokesperson, told SBS Persian.
"This uncertainty for students as they await visas is just outrageous. People have upended their lives, refused offers to study in other parts of the world, and have left their jobs only to wait for student visas that have failed to materialise despite offers to study at universities in Australia."
Calls for ‘ministerial action’
At least 21 Iranian students, including Arezoo*, have been in limbo for over a year.
“I am deeply discouraged, frustrated and stuck in a state of stress. I have also quit a job and cannot start any other requiring long-term commitment,” she told SBS Persian.
“Any academic or system that cares about human rights would consider such a lengthy processing time discriminatory and neglectful.”
Arezoo holds a fully funded PhD admission from Monash University in Materials Science and Engineering. She has been waiting for her visa for about 600 days.
On 14 August, ICOIA in Australia sent an urgent letter co-signed by more than a hundred Australian academics to Home Affairs Minister Claire O'Neil and Immigration Minister Andrew Giles calling for “ministerial action” on this issue.
“We urge you to take swift action to resolve these apparently systemic visa delays and, in particular, to implement an expedited visa processing track specifically for international PhD candidates who have already received scholarships from accredited Australian institutions,” the letter said.
We respectfully request that you intervene to streamline and expedite visa processing for qualified Iranian PhD candidates who have already received university scholarships.International Community of Iranian Academics (ICOIA) in Australia
Senator Faruqi also recently wrote a letter to Ms O'Neil seeking a solution to the delays faced by many students overseas.
According to the Home Affairs spokesperson, "In the 2022-23 program year, the Department of Home Affairs finalised over 687,629 Student visa applications, including 468,280 applications lodged outside Australia. This is the highest ever in the history of the student visa program."
"In the same year, 2,095 student visas were granted to citizens of Iran. This is 152 per cent more than in 2021-22 (831 grants). In 2022-23, Iranian citizens' grant rate of student visa applications was 96%."
‘Cycle of hope and despair'
In their letter, the ICOIA in Australia discussed how these visa delays “negatively affect students' mental health”.
Farzaneh said she feels these effects daily, describing her life as being "on hold".
"I don’t even want to think about the future. Sometimes, I have hope they will approve my visa, but I lose hope when I see some students waiting for even more than me. Everything is too uncertain," she said.
I start each day by checking my email, hoping for news about my visa, but it never comes. And I feel extremely frustrated and disappointed. It has been a cycle of hope and despair,Farzaneh
Like many other students, she is concerned that her university will run out of patience, and she will miss her UniSa offer.
This is something Leila*, another Iranian PhD student, is experiencing today.
“I sleep every night wishing that tomorrow I will get my visa, and so when I open my eyes and don't see any email, I start another frustrating day,” she told SBS Persian.
Leila enrolled at the University of Sydney to study mechanical engineering on 1 October 2022 and had been studying online.
But on 17 August this year, her university enrolment was suspended because she couldn’t come to Australia.
“I’ve been crying every day. I feel like I’m living in never-ending darkness. Our life is passing. I cannot wait years for a visa,” she said.
“I’m despondent, and it’s causing me severe mental and emotional problems. For the first time, I cannot plan for my life. I don't know what will happen to my career and personal life.”
Leila enrolled at the University of Sydney to study mechanical engineering on 1 October 2022 and had been studying online. Credit: Supplied
According to media reports in Iran, , leaving students like Leila, Farzaneh and Arezoo anxious about their future.
“It seems obvious that student visa applications should be finalised rapidly, but it feels like the government has forgotten us,” Leila said.
“We cannot understand what students have in their background or a four-page research proposal that cannot be assessed quickly. Why are we waiting for months and years? Does Australia not want our skills?”
*Full names withheld
