Australia stated on Monday it had greater than doubled the visa payment for worldwide college students, the most recent transfer by the federal government to rein in file migration that has intensified stress on an already tight housing market.
Morten Falch Sortland | Getty Pictures
Australia stated on Monday it had greater than doubled the visa payment for worldwide college students, the most recent transfer by the federal government to rein in file migration that has intensified stress on an already tight housing market.
From July 1, the worldwide pupil visa payment has risen to 1,600 Australian {dollars} ($1,068) from AU$710, whereas customer visa holders and college students with momentary graduate visas are banned from making use of onshore for a pupil visa.
“The modifications coming into pressure right now will assist restore integrity to our worldwide training system, and create a migration system which is fairer, smaller and higher in a position to ship for Australia,” Residence Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil stated in a press release.
Official information launched in March confirmed web immigration rose 60% to a file 548,800 individuals within the yr to Sept. 30, 2023.
The rise in charges makes making use of for a pupil visa for Australia far costlier than in competing nations just like the U.S. and Canada, the place they price about $185 and 150 Canadian {dollars} ($110) respectively.
The federal government stated it was additionally closing loopholes in visa guidelines that allowed overseas college students to repeatedly lengthen their keep in Australia, after the variety of college students on a second or subsequent pupil visa spiked by over 30% to greater than 150,000 in 2022–23.
The newest transfer follows a raft of actions since late final yr to tighten the pupil visa guidelines because the lifting of Covid-19 curbs in 2022 boosted annual migration to file ranges.
English language necessities have been tightened in March, whereas the quantity of financial savings worldwide college students must get a visa was raised in Could to AU$29,710 from AU$24,505, the second improve in about seven months.
Universities Australia CEO Luke Sheehy stated the federal government’s continued coverage stress on the sector would put the nation’s place of power in danger.
“This isn’t good for our economic system or our universities, each of which rely closely on worldwide pupil charges,” Sheehy stated in an emailed response.
Worldwide training is one among Australia’s largest export industries and was value AU$36.4 billion to the economic system within the 2022-2023 monetary yr.
