Let's Talk Students

Australia warmly welcomes international students and today I would like to talk to you about applying to study in Australia. The student visa programme provides an opportunity for people to study in Australia in an internationally recognised, secure and culturally diverse learning environment. The student visa programme is important for the department and Australia in general because international students help to strengthen bilateral ties, enrich our social and cultural fabric and contribute significantly to our economy. Prospective students can apply for one of seven different student visas, depending on the type of study they wish to undertake. Courses available to international students vary from short English language courses, right through to doctoral degrees. Certain students are permitted to lodge their visa application online, while others are required to lodge paper applications. More information about choosing a student visa and lodging an application is available on the department's website. In order to be granted a visa, students must be able to demonstrate they're enrolled in an eligible course, have enough money to support themselves while in Australia, have sufficient English language skills for the course they wish to study and satisfy the department they are genuine temporary entrants. To be granted a visa, students must: demonstrate they are enrolled in a course have enough money to support themselves have sufficient language English language skills be a genuine temporary entrant. Once granted a visa, student visa holders are expected to comply with their visa conditions; these include satisfying the attendance and course progress requirements set by their education provider, and not working more than 40 hours per fortnight. The Minister for Immigration and Border Protection recently announced some proposed changes to the student visa program, which will benefit future student visa applicants. These include: extending streamlined visa processing to some non-university higher education providers and proposed changes to simplify the Assessment Level Framework through the removal of Assessment Level 4 and 5, and a reduction in financial requirements for Assessment Level 3 applicants. These changes will make the visa application process simpler and easier for genuine international students. We expect to be able to implement these changes in early 2014. Some students who've completed their studies may be eligible to apply for a temporary graduate visa. This visa allows students to gain valuable work experience in Australia for up to four years, depending on the course they've studied, before returning home. For more information visit www.immi.gov.au today.