India's share of 23% highest among foreign students in Australia

Slew of measures taken by govt Down Under to get back international students

Even as the Australian Government takes measures to get back international students to its shores, the share of Indians among foreign students Down Under has grown from 17 per cent in 2019 to 23 per cent.
 

Talking about the range of support initiatives taken by the Australian Government for international students, Monica Kennedy, Senior Trade & Investment Commissioner, Australian Trade and Investment Commission stated that Indian students now formed the highest among foreign students in 2022. However, due to Covid-19 pandemic and the recent opening of borders by Australia, the number of Indian students which used to be around 110,000-120,000 in Australia now stands at 97,000 even as it continues to grow back.

According to Kennedy, from November 22 2021, when the Australian Government announced that the border would open to students, to March 18 2022, there have been 28,785 student visas lodged by Indian nationals.

With February being one of the first intake seasons in a year for Australian universities, the country has seen a surge of applications even as 15,310 visas were granted from November 22 2021 to March 18 2022, with over 25,000 students arriving on Australian shores to begin or resume study.

Among the range of new support initiatives taken by the Australian Government include an international student visa fee refund and Covid-19 visa fee waiver, extra time for English language tests and health checks, replacement Temporary Graduate visas and extended ‘stay and work’ periods. For instance, fully vaccinated international student visa holders, who have arrived in Australia between January 19, and March 19, 2022 were eligible for the visa application fee refund. The refund applies to current visa holders and new students with eligible visa holders will be able to make a claim any time up to December 31, 2022.

Similarly, students already in Australia, who held a student visa on or after February 1 2020 and could not complete their course within the original visa time period because of the impacts of COVID-19, may be eligible to have their student visa application fee (VAC) waived when applying for a new student visa.

Already, the Australian government had extended post study work visa duration from two years previously to three years now. In addition, there has been temporary relaxation of work restrictions for international student visa holders which means there is no current restriction on the number of hours that students can work while studying in Australia. However, the changes will be reviewed in April 2022.

Graduates who held a valid Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485), were outside of Australia at any time between February 1 2020 and December 14 2021 and lost time in Australia as a result of COVID-19 international travel restrictions, will have their visa extended to 30 September 2022. This extension is to allow eligible graduates time to apply for a replacement visa.

The length of stay for Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485) holders has been extended from two to three years for Masters by Coursework graduates, matching the existing provisions for Masters by Research graduates. Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector graduates will also receive a two year Temporary Graduate visa.