Consulates chip in as Indian students' gear up to travel for new semester

Most visa centres shut during the second wave in India have resumed work to ensure timely arrival of Indian students to their destinations.

Indian students preparing to study overseas for the fall semester in the US, the UK, Canada and Europe are finalising their travel: from managing a hike in airfares to tackling visa appointments.

Most visa centres shut during the second wave in India, but have opened up now to ensure timely arrival of Indian students to their destinations for the semester beginning August-September.

The Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has stated that it committed to making decisions on complete applications submitted prior to May 15, 2021 by August 6, 2021, in order to allow international students to be prepared for the fall 2021 semester. The department continues to make processing study permit applications a priority, particularly those for students destined to a designated learning institution with an approved Covid-19 readiness plan in place.

"While COVID 19 has impacted processing times, the department continues to endeavour to process complete Student Direct Stream (SDS) applications within 20 days," the High Commission of Canada told 'Business Standard'.

At the US Consulate in Mumbai, student visa appointments became available on a rolling basis starting June 14, 2021 for July and August.

"Student visas remain a top priority for the U.S. Mission to India and we are making every attempt to facilitate student travel in time for the fall semester. We continue to add appointments as conditions allow. The Consulate is considering expedite requests for student visas on a case-by-case basis. We are making every attempt to facilitate student travel in time for the fall semester," a consulate spokesperson told 'Business Standard'.

On the other hand, according to the British High Commission, Indian students are increasingly showing trust in the UK education and sentiment is positive. "The UK’s Visa Application Centres in India are open and we continue to process applications for student and skilled worker visas. The UK has modified visa rules to ensure students can study online until they’re able to travel to the UK for in-person tuition. The key message for students is not to delay making an application. They need to apply as soon as possible," it stated.

Canada, which does not require the booking of visa appointments to apply but does require appointments to submit biometrics, has seen over 33000 biometrics appointments being booked for students so far, according to the High Commission of Canada.

Biometrics appointments at Canada's Visa Application Centres (VACs) in India closed for seven weeks due to the second Covid-19 wave before reopening again in mid-June. Biometric appointments for students began on June 21 at all 10 Canadian VACs in India and have since expanded to include other types of applications. Medical appointments resumed June 28.

Similarly, the number of study permit holders from India for Canada stood at 46205 for the first five months of 2021 as compared to 31935 in 2020.

Travel companies too have seen an uptick in student travel from India, leading to a hike in air fares. According to Nishant Pitti, CEO and co-founder EaseMyTrip, fares have increased by 5-7 per cent with top student travel destinations being the US, the UK and Europe.

"Most students are traveling to the US and only a few airlines are providing student fares from India to the US like Air India, Air France, United Airlines and British Airways and there is no such restriction of spending 14 days in a third country if they are having F1 visas," said Pitti.

Seconding Pitti is Deepesh Varma, Sr. Vice President- Foreign Exchange, Thomas Cook (India) Limited, who attributed the current uptick in travel, fares and even forex to the fall semester for the US, the UK, Canada and Germany.

"The current year 2021 has given fresh opportunity to students to restart their overseas education plans that were halted due the pandemic. Acceleration of vaccine drives with special support to students planning to travel overseas has resulted in positive sentiments and confidence among both students and parents - and we have seen increased demand for student remittances across tuition fees and living expenses, among other things," said Varma.

According to Varma, forex prepaid card reloads have been at over 25 per cent in June 2021 vs May 2021. Key student source markets include metros like Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Kolkata, followed by mini metros like Pune, and Tier 2-3 cities of Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Baroda, Surat and Salem, among others.

According to the British High Commission's quarterly stat release for the previous 12-month period for Q1 2021 (covering April 2020-March 2021 i.e. The Covid Year) there has been continuing increase in student numbers,

"This is as expected – and students remain a relatively bright point, and our strongest line – particularly with the opening of the Graduate route of which tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of Indian nationals stand to benefit. However, it’s important to note that these stats do include a full year of Coronavirus restrictions on travel but don’t include the period of time that India has suffered through its second wave or been placed on the UK travel red list," it stated.