With restrictions lifted in Australia and campuses opening their doors to international students, Indian students are making a beeline for Australian institutions to take advantage of several relaxations offered by the government, in terms of waiving visa fee and extending the post-study work visa period.
Though the exact numbers are not available, Hyderabad seems to be the second biggest market for Australian education, including undergraduate courses, the number of which is rapidly increasing. This segment has seen a huge jump this year, even as students continue to opt for master’s courses in emerging areas like Data Sciences, Cyber Security, IoT and Health apart from the traditionally-popular management and commerce related courses.
Monica Kennedy, senior trade and investment commissioner, Australian Trade and Investment Commission, Australian Government, said that from November 22, 2021, when the Australian Government announced that the border would open to students, to March 18 of this year, there have been 28,785 student visas lodged by Indian nationals.
Surge of applications
A surge of applications has been successfully processed with 15,310 visas granted from November 22, 2021 to March 18, 2022, and over 25,000 students arrived on Australian shores to resume studies. Those arriving in Australia between January 19 and March 19 were eligible for the visa fee refund that their government announced to attract international students.
Ms. Kennedy said that students who were already in Australia but could not complete their courses within the original visa time period because of the impact of COVID-19 will also be eligible for visa fee waiver when applying for a new student visa.
Another big relaxation for international students is removing the restriction on the number of hours that students can work while studying in Australia. These changes will be reviewed in April 2022. Post-study work visa has been extended to three years from two years for master’s students while those pursuing vocational courses will get 2-year work visa.
