Australia eases norms for student visas

September 22, 2011 07:02 pm | Updated 07:02 pm IST - NEW DELHI

Australia has introduced easier norms for international students, said to be this country’s third biggest export industry after coal and iron ore but under pressure after the attacks on Indian students and emergence of competitors.

Under the new arrangements announced on Thursday, international students enrolled in at or higher bachelor degree courses will be treated as lower risk applicants leading to less onerous financial and documentary requirements.

Students undertaking vocational courses would continue to be assessed against higher assessment levels but with lower financial requirements.

The changes will also allow for a two to four year post-study work visa for university graduates depending on the level of study completed.

These changes will be progressively implemented from late 2011 with the full complement of changes expected to be finalised in the first half of 2012.

Australian High Commissioner Peter Varghese said the changes would enhance Australia’s competitiveness in the international education sector and also result in easier and faster visas for Indian students in a range of Australian university courses.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.