Student Visa

485 Visa is not as easy as you thought

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First of all, here are some basic criteria to meet: Meet the common criteria of clauses 485.212 – 485.215: Submit evidence of a satisfactory score on an English language proficiency test; Submit evidence that each person included in the application has applied for an Australian Federal Police check during the 12 months immediately before the application was made; Make sure that when the application is made, it is “accompanied” by evidence that the applicant has made adequate arrangements in Australia for health insurance; If the application is made under the Post-Study Work stream by a person who has completed a higher education degree, bachelor’s, master’s or doctorate, that the criterion of sub-regulation 485.231(3) is met: The applicant’s study for the qualification or qualifications satisfied the Australian study requirement in the period of 6 month ending immediately before the day the application was made. Sounds easy? Think twice. A recent case that was heard by Judge Kirton in the Federal Circuit Court, Joseph v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection(2018) FCCA 1478 (25 May 2018) illustrates that applying for a subclass 485 visa “ain’t” as simple, easy and straightforward as it may appear to be. The situation was that the applicant, a citizen of India, had undertaken a Master of Engineering at Deakin University, with the course running from 25 February 2013 – 15 March 2015. The applicant lodged his application for the 485 visa on 25 June 2015. Well within the 6 month period after he finished the course. However, after the application was lodged, a delegate of the Minister sent a letter requesting more information and documents, including a letter confirming the completion date of the applicant’s Australian qualification. This letter was supplied by the applicant and it stated that the completion date for his studies was actually 9 July 2015, a date after the date that he had lodged his application, moreover, the applicant’s academic transcript also confirmed that he had completed the course requirements on 9 July 2015. So the 485 visa application was refused by the Department, and the refusal was upheld by the Tribunal, on the basis that it had been lodged before the applicant had actually been certified by his course provider to have completed the course. And the Federal Circuit Court found that there was no jurisdictional error in this decision.   Please make sure that before submitting, you have all the required documents on your hand, do not negligent any date requirement. The advice above is to be taken as general in nature and advice specific to your situation should be done in consultation with a registered migration agent. sources: https://migrationalliance.com.au/immigration-daily-news/entry/2018-07-another-case-shows-485-visas-not-always-as-easy-as-apple-pie.html  

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Student Visa Update

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If you are thinking of applying for a visa then you should lodge your Student Visa Application at least 6 weeks before the start of your course. The immigration department have stated they will always try their best to complete the process in 4 weeks, however, it is not always a guarantee. The start date of Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) should be the day the student intends to arrive in Australia. A common mistake is to arrange OSHC to commence on the first day of their course. Immigration has stated their officers won’t grant a visa if OSHC begins less than one week before course commencement. For students applying in Australia make sure there are no gaps in coverage.

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Sydney as experienced by International Students

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A research was recently conducted by University of Technology Sydney (UTS) to see how well International Students integrated into Sydney life. Overall International Students think Sydney is a fantastic city to live, study and work in, however, issues such as the cost of living and cost of rental were also important to the students. The purpose of this study was for Sydney of City to identify where it could improve to make this wonderful city more hospital for international students. Below are some results from the research which are all obtained from the Sydney of City website. Do these results surprise you? Share your personal experiences with us.            

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Triple the school fees and No travel concession?

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International students are paying twice as much for public transport as Australian students in the same classes. It’s the same story across NSW, as regulations stop international students from getting the same travel concessions as domestic students – forcing them to pay full fare. On top of this, the only ticketing option that provided discounts for international students will no longer be accepted from Monday Jin “Echo” Shang is the president of the UOW Post-Graduate Association and she said she had to pay twice as much as Australian students on public transport. “When I did my internship at Port Kembla I remember I spent nearly $4 each way while domestic students spent one or two dollars,” Ms Shang said. The decision to exclude international students from travel concessions was made in 2006 by the NSW Labor government and the practice has been continued by the current Liberal government. It’s a practice Ms Shang branded as unfair. “Yes, because I’m an international student and we pay triple the tuition fee compared to domestic students, but we can’t just get the same concession as them,” she said. Ms Shang said had she known when planning to study that she would not be eligible for a transport concession card in NSW she would have opted to study in another state. “Transport fares are not a small amount of money when you have to travel every day,” she said. International students did have access to a 90-day MyMulti ticket that allowed discounted travel – but it cost up to $465. However, this ticket will no longer be accepted when all paper tickets are scrapped on Monday. Is it time this archaic piece of legislation is reviewed and overhauled? Picture: Robert Peet Story first published by the Illawarra Mercury.  

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Influx of students from Singapore

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More Singaporean students are expected to head to Australian universities to pursue higher education. This comes after Singapore agreed to recognise more Australian degrees in the fields of law, medicine and allied health, as part of the Singapore-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Details of the agreement were announced last week and it is expected to help address Singapore’s manpower needs in those sectors, as well as add diversity to the workforce. A total of 8,165 Singaporean students were enrolled in Australian institutions in 2015. IDP Education facilitates the entry of about 1,500 to 2,000 Singaporeans to Australian universities each year, and it is expecting the number to increase. It said there has been growing interest in the areas of allied health such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy. As such, the move to recognise a range of 15 undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in these areas from institutions such as La Trobe University, Curtin University, University of South Australia and University of Queensland will open up more options for Singaporean students. Currently, Singaporeans who wish to pursue physiotherapy, for example, can only get a degree locally under a tie-up between the Singapore Institute of Technology and Trinity College Dublin. “These courses have always been popular, in demand from Singapore (students). We are (facing) an ageing population, so we do get a lot of students who want to practise in all these areas,” said Mr Daryl Fong, country director of IDP Education. “It would be very good for students to be enrolled in these programmes and also come back to practise these programmes. The numbers will increase because I think not many of them are aware about it and they have probably missed this year’s enrolment and application, so probably in the next couple of years, (there will be an increase of) at least 5 to 10 percent per year (in these courses),” Mr Fong added. Under the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, Singapore will also recognise postgraduate medical degrees from the Australian National University and University of Queensland. These graduates are expected to help meet the demand for healthcare professionals in Singapore as the Health Ministry steps up recruitment efforts. The healthcare workforce has already expanded from 46,000 in 2011 to 57,000 in 2015, just 55 per cent of the projected increase in professionals needed between 2011 and 2020. Those who want to pursue a postgraduate course in law after getting a bachelor’s degree in another discipline will have more options as well. Singapore will be recognising the Juris Doctor degrees awarded by 10 Australian universities, such as the Universities of Sydney and Western Australia. The move is expected to bring greater diversity to the profession. Mr Amolat Singh, a lawyer at Amolat Singh & Partners, said: “It would mean that we will get people who are more specialised and already trained in fields like finance, engineering, accountancy who then come on to do law; that provides for a richer profession, because these days, the legal profession cannot (stand) solely on its own. “It needs other kinds of expertise as economies become more complex, so in the longer term, it can only mean better and much more diversely trained … lawyers.” Factors such as the favourable exchange rate and proximity are also expected to boost Singaporeans’ interest in pursuing studies in Australia. Merlion in Singapore (source: Youtube) Originally published by Channel News Asia.

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Two-year University Degrees Offered

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GRIFFITH University will offer degrees that take just two years to complete in a shake-up expected boost the number of international students by 10-20 per cent. Deputy Vice Chancellor Debra Henley said the Gold Coast university would adopt “trimesters” from 2017 for students who wanted to power through traditional three-year degrees in two years. It will continue to offer three-year degrees for students who want to take on fewer subjects over the course of a year. The university believes international enrolments will jump in the two years following the change. Bond University has offered similar accelerated degrees since its founding in 1989. “The primary reason we’re doing it is to provide all our students with greater flexibility,” Ms Henley said. “We get a lot of international students who finish their high school and their previous university careers midyear which means that if they wanted to join previously, they might have to wait until February/March the next year to come on board. “Having an intake in late June/early July and then again in October gives them the flexibility to finish their courses and then join us without having to waste many, many months.” The senior academic said about half the 50,000-strong Griffith community would be eligible for the trimester program but said some courses such as medicine and dentistry were excluded from the initiative due to clinical placements and low student enrolments. “We’re also mindful that more than half our students aren’t school leavers so their lives are likely to be much more complicated with family responsibilities and work,” she said. “That group of students is excited to be able to reduce the load they have to do each semester but still finish their degree in a reasonable amount time.” Originally published by The Gold Coast Bulletin.  

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New Student Visa Explained

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The student visa system was simplified from 8 different subclasses to 2. After reviewing the new Subclass 500 Student visa, it does appear to be much simpler and there are no streams to differentiate a primary school student from a university student. This means the Electronic Confirmation of Enrollment becomes quite important. Summarized below are the new changes: The two new student visas are Subclass 500 Student and Subclass 590 Student Guardian; There is now an English language requirement. The minimum score is an overall 5.5 IELTS or other English language test equivalent. This score can be decreased to 4.5 if you combined it with 20 weeks of ELICOS; The applicant must be 6 years or older; There are maximum age limits for students enrolling in Year 9-12; The dollar value of Financial proof of sufficient funds has increased along with the types of evidence required; Immigration fees are currently $550 for the main applicant. If you are looking to study in Australia and don’t know which State or School to apply to, Affinity Migration can assist you with your visa application, locating a quality school and arranging suitable accommodation.    

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Student visas grow the Australian Economy

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New rules affecting foreign student visas, which go into effect from 1 July 2016, will be a boom for the property market, especially in Sydney and Melbourne. The Simplified Student Visa Framework (SSVF) aims to “support the sustainable growth of Australia’s international education sector” by reducing red tape. Key changes under the SSVF include reducing the number of student visa subclasses from eight to two and introducing a simplified single immigration risk framework for all international students. The head of Australia for Chinese property portal, Juwai.com, Gavin Norris, said the new framework is positive for the Australian housing market. “Six out of every 10 Chinese property buying inquiries made in Australia last year were related to education,” Norris said. “Juwai.com sent about AU$1.6 billion of property buying inquiries to Australian vendors last year, and almost $1 billion of that value came from families who wanted to buy homes for their children to live in while studying here. “Anything Australia does to increase the number of Chinese students will also increase investment in strategic areas of the real estate market that generates more construction jobs, more new housing being built and more economic growth.” Last year, Chinese students made up 1 out of every four international students in Australia, and international students support about 130,000 jobs, according to research from Juwai. Norris said these statistics demonstrate the invaluable contribution foreign students have on the Australian economy. Originally published on Australian Broker.

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New Student Visa Regulations

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We are glad to be the first to break the news of the Immigration Department’s formal announcement that as of 1 July 2016, there will be a single visa subclass (500) visa for students and a single visa subclass (590) for student guardians. While this removes the headache associated with working out which student visa to apply for, it also comes with a new requirement. Under the new Student Subclass 500 Visa, there is an English requirement of 5.5 overall on an IELTS test. This is not a current requirement on the student visas and is more a requirement from the education providers. For those of you who are more legal minded, the link is here: https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2016L00629

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