SYDNEY: Australia mentioned on Monday (Jul 1) it had greater than doubled the visa charge for worldwide college students, the most recent transfer by the federal government to rein in document migration that has intensified stress on an already tight housing market.
From Jul 1, the worldwide pupil visa charge has risen to A$1,600 (US$1,068) from A$710, whereas customer visa holders and college students with short-term graduate visas are banned from making use of onshore for a pupil visa.
“The modifications coming into drive at the moment will assist restore integrity to our worldwide schooling system, and create a migration system which is fairer, smaller and higher in a position to ship for Australia,” House Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil mentioned in a press release.
Official information launched in March confirmed web immigration rose 60 per cent to a document 548,800 folks within the 12 months to Sep 30, 2023.
The rise in charges makes making use of for a pupil visa for Australia far costlier than in competing nations just like the US and Canada, the place they price about US$185 and US$110 respectively.
The federal government mentioned it was additionally closing loopholes in visa rules that allowed international college students to repeatedly prolong their keep in Australia, after the variety of college students on a second or subsequent pupil visa spiked by over 30 per cent to greater than 150,000 in 2022-23.