After a two-year of halt in all the activities, students are now queuing up for March (Spring) admission in foreign universities and colleges in Australia, Canada and UK as Covid-19 restrictions were removed and regular international flights resume.
The Ahmedabad passport office is buzzing again with student, immigrant and tourist visa applicants queuing up for passports.
According to reports the regional passport office of Ahmedabad issued 50,000 passports, highest in three years and in this 40% are students seeking admission in universities and colleges in UK, Australia, Canada.
According to figures from Ahmedabad division RPO, it received only 34,840 passport applications in March 2020, with 37,205 provided passports, including the backlog. The figure rose slightly to 39,742 applications, and 42,145 passports issued a year later.
In March 2022, as Covid restrictions were relaxed, students again startedapplying for the passport. The RPO Ahmedabad issued 49,921 passports in March this year.
Three factors, according to visa consultants, have contributed to the increase in passports issued. First, there’s the student factor, which accounts for roughly 40% of recent applicants to foreign colleges in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom for the March intake. The second is immigration, which accounts for 30% of applications, and the third is Umrah and Haj passports, which will resume after two years this year, causing a rush.