New visa-related Australian law to restrict entry of international students

CANBERRA – A visibly ‘anti-immigration’ move has been introduced by the government of Australia, restricting international student visas.

This weekend, the government introduced a new law that will help the Education Minister decide how many international students an institution can admit. 

Additionally, the rule will help the government to reduce the total number of international students at the training centers, vocational institutes, and universities which will support the education system of the country.

In this regard, the government has been introducing strict laws related to student visas. Recently, the authorities introduced strict requirements for English-language standards and are planning to implement new tests that will confirm that students are genuinely coming for studies and not only to work.

Besides the number of students, the following measures are also being introduced:

• Education providers won’t be able to own education agencies, and new international education providers can’t start for up to a year. Also, existing providers can’t offer new courses for a while.
• Schools wanting to recruit international students must prove they’re good at teaching local students first.
• If providers aren’t active or are being checked by regulators, they can’t recruit new international students.

Moreover, as part of these measures, there will be additional data sharing pertaining to education agents and agent commissions on onshore student transfers will be banned.

Earlier this week, the government also increased savings requirements for international students who will now have to show a minimum A$29,710 ($19,576) effective this Friday. This marks a notable rise from the previous requirement of A$24,505, implemented last October.