By Kwedu News
Student visa applicants for international students in Australia will, beginning October 2023, be required to show higher savings to prevent them from employment exploitation that could lead to employment related stress.
The minimum required savings will now be $24,505.
From 1 October 2023, as revealed by SBS Sinhala online, international students will now need to show evidence of $24,505 in savings, a 17% increase on the current demand.
For high risk countries, additional scrutiny and additional documents will be applied to prevent fraud in the international students’ applications.
The move by the Australian federal government is to ensure international students can afford to take care of themselves and prevent cases of employment exploitation as being witnessed currently.
Aussie Minister for Home Affairs, Clare O’Neil, says international education is Australia’s fourth largest export and student exploitation is a concern as the country tries to maintain quality education.
SBS Sinhala online says there are concerns that many international students opt for less expensive vocational training or enter the workforce prematurely, thereby, abandon their primary course of study after arrival.
The Australian government has put in place laws that prevent international students less than six months into the country shifting from genuine study to employment arrangements.
In addition, the Australian government is planning on enacting possible regulations to set clear grounds on use of suspension certificates, especially focusing on application rates with fraudulent documents and provider refusal rates.
“The government will consider using its powers under Section 97 of the Education Services for Overseas Students Act (ESOS Act) to issue suspension certificates to high-risk education providers.
“A suspension certificate means providers would not be able to recruit international students,” SBS Sinhala online says.
“There are also challenges in international education. As students have come back, so have some dodgy and unscrupulous players who are trying to take advantage of them,” Australian Education Minister Jason Clare is quoted having said on the site.
The Department of Immigration says offshore student visa applications have significantly increased on a monthly basis for the past year and a half.
“…the cost of living in Australia has increased significantly in the last 12-18 months.
“Not increasing the savings requirement in line with indexation would have been to mislead students on the cost of living in Australia,” Abul Rizvi, a former official at the Australian Department of Immigration is quoted having said.
Ravi Lochan Singh, head of education agency Global Reach, quoted in SBS Sinhala says the minister’s statement suggests that the government is apprehensive about a significant influx of insincere students who have exploited the streamlined student visa process to enter Australia.
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