Foreign students in Aus warned to abide by visa conditions

The students on Australian student visas were found breaching Australian immigration laws and were put into detention centres in Sydney and Melbourne before being deported.

The majority of the detainees were from Malaysia, India, China, Sri Lanka and Indonesia, who either overstayed their visas, did not attend their classes, failed their courses, or worked illegally.

As of next week, Monday 01 September 2008, legislative changes to the student visa will come into effect.  As a result of a review into the student visa program, the Australian Government has made legislative changes to the Assessment Levels (ALs), which student visa applications are assessed against. 

The changes will mean the ALs in 52 countries will be amended.  All applications for a student visa from nationals in these countries will be subject to these amendments after 01 September.  All applications which are already being processed before this date will not be affected by the changes.

The Australian Visa Bureau is an independent consulting company specialising in helping people apply for an Australia visa.

Article by Jessica Bird, Australian Visa Bureau.