Australian Student visa updates
March 2012
International students can apply for an Australian visa more easily, following the changes that have been announced by Chris Bowen, the Minister for Immigration & Citizenship. These changes, which have been welcomed by Australia's sector of higher education, mean that count of assessment levels all around a range of pupil visa subclasses would be reduced, thus making the process for visa application easier for students from across 29 countries. The changes took effect on the 24th of March this year and are an answer to the 2011 review, by the immigration department, of the assessment level settings of the student visa.
Bowen said that while it was the increase of some of the assessment levels was recommended; he has decided to implement only the reductions, to be able to best support the country's sector of international education. He further added saying that these changes will help nearly 10,500 prospective pupils, especially benefiting the sector of postgraduate research, vocational training and education providers and English Language Intensive Courses meant for Overseas Students (ELICOS).
Brenda Robinson, the chief executive of Universities Australia said that this outcome is excellent, not only in the sector of higher education but also for the country's economy more widely as this is the time the nation's seeing struggle in manufacturing and tourism, this is primarily due of the inviolable Australian currency, thus it becomes very crucial for all the stronger sectors to step up and try and counterbalance some of the economic implications. The sector of international education is the 3rd biggest export industry of the nation.
This new approach signifies that the international students who seek visas for studying at colleges and universities viewed as low-risk would be handled as coming from the countries of level one risk assessment'. This reduces the visa's waiting time vastly as well as scales back burdensome requirements for proving that they've got ample amount of money required for covering all their expenses for the stay and study in Australia. Some of the top markets in Australia for international education, which includes China and India, are treated and seen like 3 or 4 high-risk level countries, thus making it a lot harder for the pupils from these countries to get visas especially Indians, whose rates of rejection are up to 60%.
Although it's a little expensive than other developed countries, to study and live in Australia, the quality of life, education, student mix, employment opportunities, and the quality of colleges and universities make this country a very lucrative place for all the students seeking an international destination for their higher studies.
