Changes In The Student Visa And Their Effects

With the changes being made in the Australian student visa program, many foreign are now wondering whether it is worth it to continue their plans to study here. Some, has in fact, already decided to drop the chance altogether. And these turn of events are now worrying not only school officials, but also many immigration officials.

It can be noted that the revamp of the student migration have actually begun early last year, when the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) announced that it will be revising the skilled occupation list to make way for more higher level professions. A lot of the positions that where removed were of the vocational kind.

And since many foreign students are taking up these vocational course, a lot of them were heavily affected by the move. It should be noted that the main reason behind these students taking up vocational courses is because these are the easiest ones with which to get a permanent residency visa in the old system. Many of those who were affected were left with no choice but to forgo their applications and return back to their home countries.

And it seems that this was not the only problem that would be going in the way of many foreign students. At the same time last year, the DIAC also announced that changes would be implemented to the foreign student program itself. Some of the biggest changes were made with regards to qualifications for the program. One of this was the increase in the needed funds that a student needed to present first before being granted a visa, which was upped from the previous amount of AU$ 12,000 to AU$ 18,000. Stricter rules were also implemented with regards to qualifications, now with a greater emphasis on English proficiency.

As it turns out, while these changes were intended to sort out the most qualified among foreigners to be granted a student visa, these also had the negative effect of shying many potential students from applying. A lot of them argued that the new rules are seriously limiting their chances of getting into the country. Thus, they have now begun to seek out alternative countries, like the US or Britain, to study in.

According to government officials, they were well aware of these likely consequences. But they said that these moves are necessary in order to get the right kind of people in the country. Thus, they said that they will remain firm with their decision. However, immigration officials assured foreign students that those who want to take up vocational courses are still very much welcomed into the country, provided that they meet the requirements.

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Australia's Best Universities

The great quality of education in Australia is often considered as one of the biggest reasons why a lot foreign students flock to the country yearly. Indeed, Australia has been ranked as one of the top destinations when it comes to education. Thus, a lot of people consider it a once in a lifetime chance to be able to study here.

And of all the educational institutions in the country, Australian universities occupy a high rank in terms of prestige. Thus, being given a chance to study in them is considered a great honor. And so for the hopefuls out there, here some of the top universities in the country where you can try your luck to get in.

Australian National University
Ranked the highest among Australia's universities, the ANU is one of the institutions that has the largest population of foreign students in the the country. The ANU was established in 1946 through an act by the Australian parliament, the only one in existence in the country.

The ANU maintains several colleges in its Canberra campus, including the prestigious College of Law. The university also maintains several research schools that are aimed to furthering technology development. One of the university's most notable alumni is current Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
University Of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is Australia's second oldest university, having been founded in 1853. the university is also the second largest research organization in the country after the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization.(CSIRO). Thus, it is considered as one of the top schools when it comes to the fields of engineering and medicine.

Being one of the largest in the country, the University of Melbourne maintains several schools in its main campus in the Victorian capital. Aside from that, there are also several institutions around the state that are under the direct supervision of the university. And being a research center, UM also manages several departments that work with other research institutions on various projects.
Monash University
Monash is the largest university in Australia, with a current enrollment of around 39,000 undergraduates and about 16,000 students taking up post graduate studies. The university is the second oldest in the state after the above mentioned University of Melbourne. The university has eight campuses in total, six located within the state of Victoria and one each in Malaysia and South Africa. It also maintains a research center in Italy and a graduate research school in India.

Monash prides itself at being one of the leading research institution in the country. As such, it has continuously sought to get new technology for such a purpose. One of these is the Australian Synchrotron, the first one in the country, which began operation in 2007. The equipment allows researchers at Monash to study matter on a molecular level.

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Australian Immigration Changes Lead To Foreign Student Boom

One of the biggest news that hit many australia student visa applicants last year was that of the new policies being implemented by the Australian immigration authorities. Many feared that the new rules will shut down their hopes of moving into the country. One group that was in total panic was the thousands of foreign students enrolled in the country's schools.

Today, a year later, the anticipation created by the new policies seemed to be slowly dying down. Indeed, visa applicants are now slowly accepting and complying with the new rules, as immigration numbers are slowly returning to normal after last year's scare. And to top it off, contrary to what some experts feared, foreign enrollment in Australian colleges and universities didn't go down that much, but instead, is now actually on a boom.

In case you might have forgotten, it was in early 2009 that the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) announced major changes that will be made to the Skilled Migration program. One of these changes was the revision of the Skilled Occupation list that contained the positions that are allowed to be granted a working visa. The revision of the list involved the removal of more than a hundred position that have been considered as either low level or low in demand.

As many of these low level positions are vocational courses where a lot of foreign students were enrolled in, their removal caused a great deal of concern. Many were actually forced to withdraw their enrollment, because of the uncertain future in the country. This, in turn had lead to the closure of several colleges due to low enrollment rates.

However, the Australian government quickly assured foreign students that their status in the country will not be severely affected. They also immediately released more than AU$ 5 billion to serve as a refund and compensation for students whose enrollments got canceled after their schools closed.

The government also encouraged these foreign students to shift into higher level courses, as these will offer them a better chance of being able to secure a visa. Though some opted to simply return back to their home country, many actually followed this advice and enrolled in other courses. This one has allowed the number of foreign students in the country to remain fairly stable.

And as the changes have finally been set, this has actually encouraged more incoming foreign students to get higher level students. This in turn, proved to be beneficial not only for the students, but also for the country, as Australia is now able to fill in the shortage of highly skilled professionals that it needs. This have also led many foreign students to reconsider their initial thoughts about the changes.

Low Foreign Student Numbers Alarm Australian Schools

Being able to study in Australia is one of the major reasons why so many foreigners come to the country yearly in fact, Australia's educational systems is considered by many as one of the best in the world. Thus, being able to study here is often described as a one in a lifetime opportunity.

However, according to the latest figures from the schools themselves, the actual number of foreign student enrollments have actually decline by a significant amount in the last few moths. As it turns out, this one didn't come as a surprised to many experts, who argue that this one is actually to be expected. They further blame the new immigration changes that were put into effect early these year as the one causing the decrease in foreign student numbers.

As can be recalled, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship has started a major revamp of the various immigration programs that it currently offers. One of the biggest of these revisions is the one that was done on the general skilled migration program. The changes saw the removal of more than a hundred jobs that has been considered by the department as being of low priority. Many of these jobs are the vocational ones being offered in the various colleges in the country.

Since a lot of foreign students are taking vocational courses, mainly because they are the easiest ones to get permanent residency with, the move has put them in a rather precarious situation. Many opted to simply cancel their enrollment and return to their home countries. On the other hand, those who chose to remain in the country have to face an unsure prospect, as their visa applications have been canceled automatically with the revamp of the jobs list.

And to seemingly add more headache to these foreign students, the student migration program itself also underwent several changes. One of the biggest of these was the increased in the required minimum funds that a student must present, which will greatly restrict the number of students coming in. another one is the increased educational requirements.

Thus, many school officials have voiced their worries as to how these would greatly affect the enrollment numbers. Indeed, in the few months after the changes have been fully implemented, more done a dozen colleges mainly catering the foreign student market were forced to close down due to lack of enrollment. This had lead to several education experts to ask for the reversal of these policies.

However, it seemed that the government is firm with regards to the new immigration policies. They said that these changes are badly needed by the country in order to get the right kind of workers. Thus, it is unlikely that they will change it anytime soon.

New Immigration Rules Open Door To Post Graduate Students

Getting an education in Australia is actually one of the major reasons why so many foreigners travel to the country yearly. Indeed, Australia's educational system is considered one of the best in the world today, which is the reason behind so many students going here annually. However, the recent changes in immigration policies have many people in and out of the country fear that these numbers will go down.

As can be recalled, the changes in the skilled migration program was implemented late last year. These changes included the removal of a lot of the jobs that were considered to be low level by the immigration department. Since many of the foreign students here were taking vocational courses, which are some of the positions that were considered by the immigration department as low level, they ended up having to cancel out their enrollment. It should be noted that the main reason behind many foreign students taking vocational courses is because, under the older system, these are the ones with which it is easiest to get a permanent residency visa after graduation.

Since, as have been said, much of the foreign student population here are taking these low level courses, many education experts here feared that such moves will certainly decrease the number of students coming into the country. And it seemed that those fears were realized when the number of foreign enrollees suddenly dropped at the start of this school year. The situation was further aggravated by the closure of several colleges who are mainly catering to these foreign students.

However, the government is quick to allay these fears. They argue that these moves are necessary in order to get the right people into the country. As it is, according to the latest statistics, Australia is actually suffering from a shortage of highly skilled professionals, due to the fact that most are gunning for the lower level positions.

And it seemed that the immigration department was somewhat vindicated in their move. After the initial shock from both students and educators, and a dip in foreign student numbers, everything is now starting to return back to the same level again. However, this time around, there's a big difference. While previously, a lot of students are coming in to become cooks and waiters. More and more students are now enrolling in highly skilled courses, such as engineering and business administration. Post graduate enrollment also posted high numbers, as more and more students seek to get a better positi0n under the new immigration rules . Thus it seemed that all of these moves are working as intended.