Since the beginning of the year, the Australian authorities have been reviewing student visa applications more strictly. Australia is struggling with shortages in the housing market and a high inflation. The Australian authorities are trying to solve these problems by limiting the number of immigrants arriving in the country. International students seem to be suffering from this policy.
Australia’s new immigration policy
At the end of 2023, the Australian government announced a new immigration policy. An important aspect of this new policy is to attract highly skilled migrants who can support the Australian economy in key sectors. As a part of this, the country will introduce a new innovation visa, which is intended for skilled migrants working in technical professions.
Furthermore, the government is tightening the requirements for various types of visas. Almost all immigrants now have to achieve a higher score in an English language test than they used to, which is a requirement for many types of visas. Also, the immigration service will make it more difficult for migrants who are already in Australia with a valid visa to apply for a different visa type to prolong their stay.
Fears of visa rules being abused
The Australian government uses the new visa policies to limit fraudulent use of its visa systems. The authorities fear that some foreign students do not come to Australia primarily for their studies, but to profit from the higher wages and standards of living in the country. Australia’s minister for Home Affairs, Clare O’Neil, recently explained in a tweet that the new policy aims to limit the number of incoming migrants. She states that the tightened rules will prevent abuse and fraud in Australia’s higher education.
Critics fear that the stricter visa policy in relation to student visas will harm Australia’s reputation. Foreign students may choose for other destinations, which would hurt Australia’s image as a welcoming country, where people of diverse backgrounds can study and become successful.
High refusal rate of student visa applications
In the first four months of 2024, the Australian authorities issued more than 74,000 student visas. This is a significant decrease compared to the same period in 2023, when more than 100,000 student visas were issued. These figures were not received well by educational institutions in Australia, as they fear a loss of income and jobs. Around 23% of all applications submitted in 2024 were refused, which is a sharp increase compared to a refusal rate of around 15% in previous years.
New immigration policies are unclear
The high refusal rate is partly caused by unclarity over the new visa requirements. At the end of 2023, the government announced some changes in the visa policy, but it was unclear what exactly was changed until later this year.
In some cases, applicants have to meet tightened requirements which they did not know about beforehand. Some Australian education experts even suspect that some student visa applications were assessed with stricter guidelines before they were made public. Australian universities fear losing out on revenues of half a billion Australian dollars (around 260 million GBP or 310 million EUR).
The new rules caused some Australian educational institutions to reject students of certain nationalities in advance. This is because visa applications from students from countries like India are more likely to be rejected, meaning that they cannot start their studies. This is reflected by the refusal rates of visa applications by Indian students, which was around 30% in the first months of 2024.
The high cost of a student visa
Foreign students need to pay a high cost for the student visa application. An application costs 710 AUD per person, which is around 370 GBP or 440 EUR. This is significantly more than the cost of a student visa in other destinations. For example, a Canadian student visa costs only 150 Canadian dollars, which is around 85 GBP or 100 EUR.
If you want to study in Australia for a short period of time only, you may be eligible for an eVisitor visa. You can apply for the eVisitor visa on this website for £24.95, so it is much cheaper than a student visa. The eVisitor visa allows you to follow a short course or to study in Australia for up to 3 months.
Applying for the eVisitor visa is much easier than applying for a student visa. Applying for the eVisitor visa only takes a few minutes, using the digital application form. You have to fill in some personal details as well as some details about your stay in Australia. You also have to upload a scan of your passport. Once you filled in all the information and uploaded the scan, the visa is issued in 5 days on average. A valid visa allows you to travel to Australia right away.