In 2022, over 134,000 visas were issued to student dependants, an all-time high, and eight times more than the roughly 16,000 issued in 2019 (Figure 2). Until January 2024, all postgraduate students could bring partners or children as dependants. From January 2024, this is no longer permitted unless a person is on a research course (in most cases, a PhD).
A combination of two factors drove the increase in dependants when they were still permitted. First, there were more international students. In particular, the number of international students enrolling on a new postgraduate course rose by 41% between the 2019/20 and 2021/22 academic years (Figure 4). Second, students brought more dependants with them during the same period – from an average of less than 0.1 dependants per student in 2019 to about 0.28 in 2022 (Figure 2).
To a large extent, the increase in dependants was linked to higher student migration from India and Nigeria. Nationals of these two countries made up almost three-quarters (74%) of dependant study visas issued in 2022 – 60,200 were issued to Nigerians (45%) and 38,800 to Indians (29%). Students from Nigeria were much more likely to bring dependants with them than other top nationalities, with an average of more than one dependant (1.02) per student in 2022. In contrast, Indian students brought an average of 0.28 dependants per student, while American and Chinese students brought almost no dependants (0.01 and 0.07 dependants per student, respectively).
