03 September 2008

43 countries benefit from Aus student visa changes

Changes to the Australian student visa Assessment Levels (ALs) which came into effect on Monday 01 September 2008 mean that international students from 43 countries have a better chance of being granted a visa for Australia.

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

As part of the changes, the immigration risk of 43 countries has been lowered, including China, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman and Brazil, meaning they now have to provide less evidence to support their Australian student visa application. 

Prospective overseas students from India, Jordan, Zimbabwe, Colombia, Egypt, Ghana, Nigeria, Sri Lanka and Romania now have to give extra evidence proving their application is legitimate and they have the capacity to support themselves financially.

According to the Australian, 392,000 international students were enrolled in Australian educational students in the past year, which is a 20 per cent increase on the year before.  Although the Department of Immigration and Citizenship has now made it harder for Indian students to get a student visa, the numbers of Indian students in Australia before the immigration changes increased by 55 per cent.  The numbers from China and Nepal continue to grow, while the Hong Kong, Japanese and Taiwan student markets are declining.

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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.