Out of many such foreign students deciding to move to New Zealand for pursuing studies include those who have been refused study visas by other nations.
Increase in foreign student enrollments in New Zealand-- Official figures revealed by New Zealand immigration department INZ (Immigration New Zealand) say the number of international students coming to New Zealand for studying here has been on the rise for the last couple of years. And the number of students from Mideast nations went up considerably, informed Steven Joyce, New Zealand Minister of Tertiary Education.
As of now, New Zealand has roughly 7,000 Saudi students studying here, adds Joyce. This is a significant surge in the number of Saudi students in New Zealand in the year 2002 when there were only 67 Mideast students in New Zealand.
Students from Saudi Arabia coming to study in New Zealand increased by 19 percent(431 students) over the last year thus leaving behind India and China. The number of students from China and India coming to study in New Zealand went up by 11 percent and 19 percent respectively.
A total of 2,654 Saudi Arabian students got New Zealand student visas in the year 2011, figures revealed by Immigration New Zealand show.
Simpler New Zealand visa rules attract international students—The onus for growth in the number of foreign students coming to New Zealand on New Zealand student visas must go to easier and friendly New Zealand student visa norms. Take, for instance, the example of a Saudi student who chose to study in the US.
However, to his much surprise and dismay, he was refused a student visa by US immigration authorities.
And that too for a vague reason. His only fault was that he had three different names on the documents submitted to the US immigration officials.
He did not like the name given to him by his mom at the time of birth and he selected another name. Due to difficult process of getting US student visas, he made up his mind to study in New Zealand, admits Abdul-Azeem Fakhr from Saudi Arabia.