Tougher eligibility criteria and targeted visa refusals have sent shockwave among students aspiring higher studies in Australia.
Australia has been a top priority for international students due to quality education, advanced technologies, and job security. Sachin Jain, Country Manager, ETS India and South Asia, mentioned: “Australia remains the preferred choice for Indian students and working professionals, with over 1.2 lakh Indian students studying last year.”
However, there has been numerous issues associated with the previous process including backdoor entry and unethical practices by institutes. To prevent these, Australian government came up with new rules for international students. In this article, we will discuss about those new rules.
Australian government has become more strict to provide student visa since March, 2024. New Visa rules include tougher eligibility criterion, better English-language proficiency alongwith policies for education agents bringing foreign students to Australia.
New Rules for Savings: The government has announced a massive hike in the financial requirement for foreign student visas. As per new rule, international students must “demonstrate savings of at least A$29,710 ($19,576) to qualify for a visa.”
Meanwhile, this is the second increase in seven months. Previously, the value was A$24,505 in October.
English Proficiency Test for Foreign Students: Students or working professionals qualified in any of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), Pearson Test of English (PTE), Cambridge English (CAE), and Occupational English Test (OET) were eligible for applying Visa in Australia. However, from this year Australia has resumed accepting TOEFL marks for visa applications.
The Anthony Albanese-led government has introduced these new rules to prevent back-door entry to Australia for work and permanent residency.
In recent months, only visas for “low-risk universities on level 1” have progressed quickly. According to the Guardian report, a large number of students had to withdraw their applications due to processing delays.
This led to at least 48% drop in visas approval for Indian students than the last year. Apart from Indian students, the visa refusal rate is high for students from Nepal (53%) and Pakistan (53%) over the same period.
Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil talked about serious steps against unethical practices by universities: “The government has sent warning letters to 34 education providers regarding non-genuine or exploitative recruitment practices. Dodgy providers have no place in our international education sector. These actions will help weed out the bottom feeders in the sector that seek to exploit people and trash the reputation of the sector. These institutions could face significant penalties if found guilty of misconduct.”
International education has been a key contributor to Australia's economy. In 2022-23 session, it was valued at A$36.4 billion ($24 billion). Over the last decade, there has been a rapid rise in migration leading to higher rental costs across the nation.
According to Australian government data, “net immigration rose by 60% to a record 548,800 in the year ending September 30, 2023.”
The Australian government is now planning to reduce migration rates drastically. This starts from reducing student intake every year.
“We are significantly reducing migration levels - we are in the middle of the biggest drop in migration numbers in Australia's history, outside of war or pandemic,” O'Neil stated.
Changes in students visa rules by Australian government is adopted to control migration, sustainable growth of rental market to further ensure integrity in international education sector.
