Australia announced on Monday that in an attempt to halt the nations historic migration it had more than doubled the cost of student visas for foreign nationals. Indian students who make up the second-largest group of international students in Australia will not be pleased with the latest action taken by the Anthony Albanese government. This development puts additional pressure on the already tight housing market in the country.
The fee for an international student visa increased from A$710 to A$1600 ($1068) as of July 1. Visitors with valid visas and students on temporary graduate visas are not allowed to apply for student visas onshore. Home Affairs Minister, Clare Oneil said in a statement that the changes going into effect today will help restore integrity to our international education system and create a migration system that is fairer, smaller, and better able to deliver for Australia.
Last year, in September, net immigration rose by 60% to a record 548,800 persons, as per official data released in March. December 30, 2023. Application fees for Australian student visas are currently higher than those for applying visas to other countries, like the U.S. as of new law implementation. Within the U.S. and Canada, the prices are approximately $185 and $150 ($110), respectively. In 2022–2023, there were over 150000 students on second or subsequent student visas, a 30% increase from the previous year. The government then declared that it was closing the gaps in visa regulations that allowed foreign students to continuously extend their stay in Australia.
The most recent of several steps taken to tighten the regulations pertaining to student visas was late last year, as the lifting of COVID-19 limits in 2022 drove yearly migration to record levels. March saw the tightening of English language competence criteria, and May saw the second increase in around seven months in the minimum savings needed for international students to acquire a visa, from A$2405 to A$29710 ($19823).
The CEO of University of Australia Luke Sheehy, stated that the nation's strong position would be jeopardized by the government's ongoing policy pressure on the industry. Sheehy responded to this by email, saying that this is bad news for our economy and universities, as both heavily rely on tuition from international students. Australia exported A$364 billion worth of goods to other nations in the fiscal year 2022–2023, with international education accounting for the majority of these exports.
Impact on Indian Students-
The second-largest group of international students in Australia, i.e., Indian students, is expected to be negatively impacted by the move. Many Indian students who have plans to relocate to Australia or who are on temporary graduate visas will be negatively impacted by the latest measures. Based on data from the Australian government, a considerable number of Indian students roughly 1,00,000 were enrolled in different Australian universities in 2022. In addition, during the January–September 2023 period, 1.22 lakh Indian students were enrolled in Australian universities.
From January to September 2023, 1,22,391 Indian students were enrolled in universities across Australia. The misuse of student visas and migration has already been addressed by the Australian government in recent months. It minimized the age eligibility and cut the duration of temporary graduate visas.In June 2023 the Australian government ended the temporary relaxation of work-hour restrictions for student visa holders in response to labor shortages. A student may work for up to 48 hours per two weeks while enrolled in classes starting in July of last year.
Additionally according to the Australian government the increase in the cost of international student visas will contribute to the funding of a number of significant immigration and education-related initiatives such as the execution of the nations migration strategy and policies pertaining to vocational education and training which include financial assistance for employers and apprentices. The temporary skilled migration income threshold (TSMIT) was earlier raised by Australia from AU$70000 to AU$73150.