Bhutan offshore student visa grant rate dropped 24.9 points to 50.5% in the March to May 2026 window

Data source: Department of Home Affairs, Study visa statistics, ingested into SVH's production dataset. Figures for the rolling three month window of March to May 2026. Offshore applications only.

This is data reporting only, not migration advice.

The Department of Home Affairs recorded a grant rate of 50.5% for Bhutanese offshore student visa applicants in the March to May 2026 window, based on 1,504 decided applications. The prior window rate was 75.4%, a fall of 24.9 percentage points.

At 1,504 decided applications, Bhutan was the 5th largest offshore market by volume among the top 20 nationalities in the March to May 2026 dataset. The volume is sufficient to produce a rate estimate with reasonable stability.

The 24.9-point fall placed Bhutan 4th for steepest decline by points in the window. Three nationalities recorded larger point falls in the same period: Zimbabwe (down 46.3 points to 43.2%, based on 139 decided applications, from a prior rate of 89.4%), Nigeria (down 31.4 points to 52.1%, based on 144 decided applications), and Philippines (down 26.4 points to 39.2%, based on 1,315 decided applications).

On 10 January 2026, the Department of Home Affairs published, through VisaHQ, a reclassification of Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Bangladesh to Evidence Level 3, effective 8 January 2026. Evidence Level is a processing category within DHA's web evidentiary tool that affects documentary requirements for visa applicants from each listed country. The Department has not published a statement attributing the March to May 2026 grant rate movement to the reclassification. The reclassification and the rate movement are both recorded facts in the dataset; no causal relationship has been established in published material.