Australia Tightens Student Visa Rules from March 23
Australia Tightens Student Visa Rules from March 23
Australia will begin applying stricter visa regulations for overseas students this week, as official figures showed migration reaching a new high, which is expected to worsen an incredibly tight rental market. Beginning Saturday, English language standards for student and graduate visas will be tightened, and the government will be given the authority to forbid education providers from enrolling overseas students.
If they continuously disobey rules and regulations. “The steps this weekend will continue to keep migration volumes down while meeting our offers in the migration plan to improve the broken immigration system we adopted,” Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said in an announcement. A new “genuine student test” will be implemented to limit overseas students who want to come to Australia primarily for employment.
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At the same time, “no further stay” limits will be imposed on more visiting visas. The initiatives follow an increasing number of measures taken last year to end the previous government’s COVID-era compromises, particularly without restricting working hours for overseas students. At the time, the administration stated that student standards would be tightened, potentially reducing migrant inflow by half over the next two years.
However, Australia increased its yearly migration numbers in 2022 to assist companies in filling personnel shortages caused by the COVID-19 epidemic, which maintained severe border restrictions and barred international students and workers from entering the country for over two years. Even so, the quick rise of international workers and students has put additional pressure on a tight rental market.
According to data issued by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Thursday, March 21, net immigration increased by 60% to a record 548,800 in the year to September 30, 2023, going further than the 518,000 persons in the year ending June 2023. Ultimately, Australia’s population increased by 2.5%, the fastest rate on record, to 26.8 million people in the year to September.
The historical migration, led by students from India, China, and the Philippines, has increased labor supply while containing wage pressures. Still, it has worsened an already tight housing market, with rental vacancies at record lows and rising building prices limiting new supply. Home State Affairs Clare O’Neil stated that the government’s efforts since September had dropped migration numbers, with recent foreign student visa awards down 35% from last year.
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