Immigration Officials Confident About New Student Migration Rules

In Australia, student visa applications are one of the most popular types of visas being applied for by a lot of people. Indeed, the Australian education system is considered one of the best in the world, that's a lot of students would want to get in. However, there is yet another side to masses of people wanting to get an Australian student visa.

As it turns out, many people use the student visa for yet another purpose, that of gaining permanent residency in the Lan

d Down Under. It can be noted that, under the old regulations, foreign students were able to immediately apply for permanent citizenship after graduation from their courses. Also, the previous regulations allow foreigners to take advantage of the option regardless of the course they are getting. Thus, a lot of foreign students opted to take vocational courses, as these are the easiest ones to complete and get residency with.

However, with the changes done by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) to the country's migration program, this seemed to become a harder route to take. It can be recalled that the DIAC begun implementing these changes since early last year. Here, one of the biggest changes was the removal of the vocational positions from the Skilled Occupation List. Also, the regulations for securing permanent residency has become even stricter today. Students are now required proof that they are indeed currently employed before being granted a chance to apply for permanent residency.

The effect of the new immigration rules were immediate. A lot of foreign students taking up vocational courses were force to stop in their tracks since there is nothing left for them to do. On the other hand, the removal of the vocational positions from the list also meant the automatic cancellation of their visa applications, putting them in a rather awkward situation. Thus, left with no other choice, a lot of them returned to their home countries.

Nevertheless, a lot of people are still pretty much attracted to the idea of getting permanent residency through a student visa. Indeed, the option is actually still very much available. With that, a lot of foreign student hopefuls are now actually choosing to get these visas by getting higher level education. This one is actually welcomed by the Australian immigration department as it indicates that they are able to get more higher level professionals, as this was the intent of the changes.

However, there are still those who attempt to circumvent these new rules and get residency through fraudulent means. These are the ones being closely monitored by the government. Officials are hoping that with the new rules they will be able to clamp down on these individuals.

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Foreign Students Leaving Australia

Getting an Australian education is probably one of the most popular reasons why a lot of people want to go to the country. Indeed, the Australian educational system is considered as one of the best in the world today. That's why a lot of foreign students would certainly want to grab the opportunity once it comes along.

However, while the country is still enjoying a large influx of students in this area, it seems that the country's appeal is now slowly decreasing. Indeed, the country has seen a large decrease in the number of foreign students entering its soil in the last few months. And education experts fear that the trend is likely to continue in the next few years.

According to the statistics provided by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC), the number of students applying for a visa to the country dropped by as much as ten percent in the last few months. Experts project that the drop could actually go to as high as twenty percent by next year if the situation does not change.

One of the biggest factors that has contributed to the decrease in the number of foreign students enrolling in the country is the recent changes done by the DIAC to the student migration program. It can be recalled that the DIAC announced last year that they will be doing a revamp of the student program in accordance to the changes made in the skilled migration program. With the new occupations list for the Skilled migration taking effect last July 1, about a hundred of the courses eligible for student visa application were automatically canceled by the DIAC. Thus, a lot of the students were forced to either return home or stay in Australia and face an uncertain situation.

And it seems that this is not yet the end of it. According to school administrators, there is yet another factor that is contributing to the decrease in foreign student numbers in the country. They said that the increase in the price of education in the country also contribute greatly to the decline of foreign student numbers. This in turn, they attributed to the strengthening of the Australian dollar.

And as it turns out, with the situation Australia is in, its competitors in the international education market are now making their move to attract more foreign students. Both Britain and the US are now relaunching their student programs. Thus, school administrators are urging the Australian government to act and respond to the situation. However, with the way things are, it is unlikely that the government can give a solution anytime soon.