Indian students abroad

The most prominent destination for international students from India is primarily the Anglosphere with close to one million Indian students, followed more distantly by the Europe, the West Asia and the Far East.
The number of Indian students studying outside India rapidly increased by 163% between 1999 and 2006 to reach 145,539 as compared to slower growth of 25% between 2006 and 2013 to reach 181,872, according to an analysis of UNESCO data. As of January 2021, more than 1 million Indian students are studying in 85 countries outside India. More than 50% of Indian students study in North America.
This article does not take into account people of Indian origin or ancestry who are not Indian nationals.
There are figures on the internet being sourced here providing Indian student enrollment figures for various Middle Eastern (GCC) countries that seem unusually high, often as high as or exceeding the total international student population of the said countries. For example, in 2024, there were only 70,000 international students in Saudi Arabia. There were just under 68,000 international students in Saudi Arabia as of 2022, which is a decline from just over 75,000 international students in 2019. There cannot be 80,800 Indian international students in Saudi Arabia. Similar for UAE and Oman. These figures have been removed and should only be replaced if a validated source can be found since even some major news outlets have been reporting these figures.
These are the top study destinations for Indian students, based on number of active students:
As of July 2022, there are 96,000 Indian students in Australia.
After peaking in 2009, the number of Indian students studying in Australia fell following violent attacks against Indians in Australia. By 2015, the number had risen to exceed the 2009 number. During 2013–14, 34,100 Australian visas were issued to Indian students, a rise of 38% as compared to the previous period. There were 115,000 Indian students present in Australia in 2020, and 77,000 Indian students present in Australia in 2021. According to data furnished in India's Rajya Sabha in 2021, the number of Indian students registered in Australia was as high as 92,383. In the second half of 2022, India overtook China as the number one country lodging student visa applications in Australia.
Due to border closure starting the second half of 2020, the number of new Indian students studying in Australia declined by 83% At least 12,740 Indian nationals holding Australian student visas were stuck outside Australia as of January 2021. In March 2021, Indian students and other temporary visa holders staged protests in Delhi and Chandigarh, objecting to Australia's uncompromising approach that kept them out of the country for a year despite the COVID-19 cases in India being relatively low at the time. Unhappy with the country's lack of support to international students, enrolled students took to social media to warn others against studying in Australia. Some Indian students made the switch to Canada owing to its friendlier approach towards international students.
There have been calls for fast-tracking permanent residency for onshore Australian residents from India, with stress on creating smoother pathways to migration for international students.
In the first half of 2023, reports emerged that students from Punjab and Haryana were banned or restricted from applying to five Australian universities. The universities feared their ability to fast-track applications would be compromised by Home Affairs due to the number of applicants from these states intending to actually work, and not study. In 2020–21, at least 600 student applications with forged documents from these states surfaced to light.
In mid-2023, Australian universities expanded the bans to include Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Jammu & Kashmir.
As of 2023, there were 319,130 international students from India enrolled in Canadian institutions.
The number of Indian students in Canada exceeded the number of Chinese students in Canada in 2018, with the Indian student population quadrupling between 2015 and 2019. The number of Indian students in Canada increased from 48,765 in 2015 to 219,855 in 2019, constituting 34% of Canada's foreign student population.
Canada placed a travel ban on India and Pakistan starting April 22, 2021, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. With the ban being extended further, Indian students from Punjab reportedly travelled to Canada through Moscow, Mexico, Serbia, Qatar, Dubai among other locations, paying up to three times the regular air fare. Canada also does not accept RT-PCR tests from Indian labs because of which students travelling from India are forced to get tested elsewhere before entering Canada.
University of Ottawa professor Amir Attaran slammed Canada PM Justin Trudeau's decision to ban flights from India as racist, pointing out that the United Kingdom experienced 6500% higher cases than Canada in the same time period but did not face a similar travel ban to Canada.
Canada is a preferred destination for Indian nationals due to strong diasporic presence of the community and the benefits offered by the Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP). Additionally, international students do not need to pay their tuition fee to be able to apply for a study permit in Canada. Policy experts suggest that Indian students intending to go to the US are instead moving to Canada because of the former's unfavorable quota-based H-1B visa program. The decisions of Australia and New Zealand to close borders to international students in 2021 also contributed to the surge in Indian student migration to Canada.
According to student reports from India, study permit refusal rates to Canada were as high as 60% during the Fall 2021 semester. Students with poor academic records and those from less fortunate financial backgrounds were refused study permits, according to Narpat Singh Babbar, a Canadian education consultant. Study permit rejection rates remained as high as 50% in 2022, mostly driven by young Punjabi applicants.
700 students from Punjab faced deportation from Canada early in 2023 after it came to light that their education offer letters were fake. Chandigarh University offered to help out students facing deportation by offering them admission in the same batches, and by using credit scoring mapping to transfer their course units. The Canadian government also offered a reprieve. In June, Canada's immigration minister Sean Fraser said genuine students who are victims of fraud would be allowed to stay after an investigation.
There were 29,000 Indian students enrolled in New Zealand, as of 2015.
A 26% student visa refusal rate was reported for Indian students applying to study in New Zealand between July 2019 and February 2020.
There are 139,539 Indian nationals on study visas in the UK, as of 2022.
The number of Indians granted study visas grew by 307% between 2019 and 2022, increasing from 34,261 to 139,539. India also displaced China as the most common nationality granted UK study visas, with the East Asian country recording 102,842 such nationals in 2022. Together, Indian and Chinese nationals comprise half of all study visa grants in the UK.
In 2021, a two-year post-study work visa for international students was officially instated.
211,930 Indian students were recorded in the United States as of 2022.
Indian students pumped US$7.6 billion into the US economy during the 2019-20 period.
In 2010, the number of Indian students studying in the US crossed 100,000. According to the 2017 report, the number of Indian students in the USA numbered 186,000. In 2019, Indian students opting for the US declined by 4%. At least 207,000 international Indian students were recorded to be present in the United States in 2020. As of 2022, India has surpassed China to become the top country with most international students in the United States.
Students seeking international education are profoundly impacted by the programs they select and the less academically and pedagogically proficient departments that deliver them. These factors shape not only their academic trajectories but also their professional and financial prospects. Many international students from India perceive a U.S. degree as a gateway to work visas and enhanced job opportunities, often using it to navigate the absence of clear, legally accessible pathways to achieve their U.S. aspirations. However, the financial burden of pursuing these degrees, coupled with uncertainties in securing employment in labor markets characterized by less proficient knowledge, skills, and refined abilities, poses significant challenges. High tuition costs, combined with a low return on investment, can leave students in considerable debt, particularly when academic programs lack strong faculty expertise or resources. Furthermore, cultural differences and limited assimilation into U.S. norms—beginning with culturally aligned classroom behaviors and expectations—highlight potential challenges and frictions that international students might introduce to organizations operating under U.S.-centric standards. These factors underscore the difficulties international students face in achieving their goals, emphasizing the need for both government and educational institutions to proactively address these issues.
Enrolment in the 2020 Fall Semester dropped by 43% following the COVID-19 pandemic. In July 2020, the American administration announced that international university students may have to leave the United States if their studies moved completely online, putting the future of tens of thousands of students in jeopardy. First-time student visa applicants expressed their concerns about shut embassies and limited staff availability, with many postponing their study plans. In May 2021, certain categories of Indian students were exempted from US travel restrictions.
The country-cap on Green Cards has been widely criticized for perpetuating an arbitrary immigration system that has seen little meaningful reform since the 1960s. Despite being the birthplace of Silicon Valley, the United States continues to rely on a paper-based system rather than adopting a modern, digital, and computerized system suited for the 21st century. Indian-American advocacy groups have criticized the outdated frameworks and systems, especially in comparison to those of countries like Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan, arguing that it leaves qualified Indian professionals in the U.S. waiting decades to obtain permanent residency, despite their significant contributions to the economy and society. They say that the current exploitative visa schemes coupled with the systemic inefficiency is one which forces immigrants to "engage in a life of indentured servitude," reflecting the thirteenth amendment. For many Indian students, the prospect of securing permanent residency through legal recognition of their contributions is a key motivator for studying in the U.S. However, the lack of such opportunities, combined with a system that only favors illegal immigrants, has been reflected in shifting admission trends, with more students choosing Canada over the U.S. The U.S. lawmakers have expressed their disapproval of the U.S. immigration system that has driven international students, particularly those from India, north to Canada.
As of 2019, there were 10,000 Indian students in France. The country aims to attract 20,000 Indian students by 2025.
In July 2021, France announced that fully vaccinated Indian students, among other Indian nationals, can travel to France without restriction.
There are 33,753 Indian students present in Germany, as of 2022.
During the 2014-15 period, Indian students studying in Germany constituted 4.9% of international students in the country. By 2019, the number of Indian students in Germany increased to 25,149.
As of 2021, at least 16,500 Indian students are registered in Russian institutions. Of these, 6,000 students are pursuing research and higher studies. Russia has been a top choice for Indian students pursuing a successful medical career. Medical education in Russia is subsidized for international students, making it highly affordable. Russian medical universities are renowned for their excellent infrastructure, world-class education, highly qualified faculty, comfortable accommodations, and innovative technologies.
At least 20,000 Indian students were studying in various medical colleges in Ukraine in 2021.
As of March 2022, 18,000 Indians living in Ukraine, mostly students, were evacuated from Romania, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Moldova as part of Operation Ganga. One Indian student was killed by shelling in Kharkiv. and One student from Bogomolets National Medical University wrote an autobiography about his life in Ukraine and aftermath of the Invasion titled "The Life of Tolka"
Around 23,000 Indian students were enrolled in Chinese higher education institutions as of 2019, with a majority of them studying medicine.
In February 2020, India evacuated more than 600 of its students from Wuhan. Many Indian students have been stuck outside China following travel restrictions placed during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Around 15,000 Indian students are present in the Philippines. Between 2,500 and 3,200 Indian students are studying medicine in the Philippines. Low tuition costs and the abundance of English speakers in the country drive attraction to the country. Agents are known to have extorted money from unsuspecting students travelling to the Philippines in hopes to further their education.
There are around 80,000 international students in Singapore in 2023, with around 17000 Indian students immigrating from India to Singapore in 2022.
As of 2021, there are 80,800 Indian students in Saudi Arabia. About 26 institutions in Saudi Arabia offer scholarships to Indian students. Female students on scholarships are required to be accompanied by relatives.
70,800 Indian students were present in Saudi Arabia as of 2018.
In 2024, there were only 70,000 international students in Saudi Arabia. There were just under 68,000 international students in Saudi Arabia as of 2022, which is a decline from just over 75,000 international students in 2019. Considering most of the international students come from surrounding countries in the Middle East, the figure given for Indian students in Saudi Arabia seems vastly over-inflated and impossible considering the overall international student figures. The given figures might be counting children of labourers and other workers attending primarily and secondary schools in the country.
As of 2020, more than 10,000 Indian students are studying in Kyrgyzstan.
16,000 Indian students found themselves stranded in Kyrgyzstan during the COVID-19 pandemic. At least 145 were flown back by Air India to Delhi and various cities of India.
Around 219,000 Indian students are living in the United Arab Emirates, as of 2021. Indian students in the UAE are heavily engaged in primary and secondary education, with more than 98,000 Indian students studying in private schools in Dubai alone. Of 30,000 students enrolled in Dubai's free-zone universities in 2019, 14% were from India.
From June 23, 2021, UAE eased travel restrictions with India, allowing Indian students access to Dubai's educational institutions. Dubai's Indian schools reported 50% on-campus attendance rates for pupils studying in the post-spring break session in 2021. Many students had not attended classes physically for up to a year.
As of 2024, there are around 230,000 international students in the UAE.
An estimated 7,000 to 8,000 Indian students, mostly from Jammu and Kashmir, are enrolled in medical institutions in Bangladesh.
In March 2020, at least 64 students unsuccessfully attempted to cross the Bangladesh-India border from Bangladesh to India in a bus. As of May 2021, scores of Indian students are unable to return to their colleges in Bangladesh due to travel restrictions in place during the COVID-19 pandemic.