February 1 marked the first State of New Hampshire NAFSA Region XI meeting in three years, with many new faces around the table.

Like the rest of the world, Canada’s visa processing officials have been slightly inundated over the last 12 months.

PhD students from countries including Iran, China and Pakistan have been waiting up to three years to obtain visas.

Despite a tumultuous year, the international education sector has been extremely buoyant with millions of students choosing to study abroad in 2022.

Towards the end of 2022, visa backlogs are largely being managed by study destinations but there are concerns that some students will miss out on January intakes.

Students hoping to be travelling to Canada to enrol on courses are suffering from visa delays more than counterparts who have chosen alternative study destinations, sector stakeholders have said.

The UK has reopened some of its priority visa services, allowing incoming international students to pay extra for a faster decision on their applications. 

Global visa processing bottlenecks have led to the UK benefitting from positive perception among education agents, Navitas research conducted in May has indicated.