Australia tightens student visa rules, will have a direct impact on Indians

New Delhi: Australia has further increased the strictness of international student visa rules. Australia has decided to increase the financial requirements for student visas in the wake of increasing immigration and student fraud in the country.

According to the new student visa rules, foreign students will now have to show savings of at least 29,710 Australian dollars to get a visa. The new rules will come into effect from next Friday.

Earlier in October 2023, it was increased from 21,041 to 24,505 Australian dollars. The rules have been changed once again after almost seven months.

The number of foreigners in the country has steadily increased since the lifting of restrictions imposed during the Covid-19 epidemic in 2022, due to which the Australian rental market is under pressure.

In addition to the financial requirements, the Australian government has also tightened the English language requirement for student visas.

According to reports, there were 100,009 Indian students studying in Australia in 2022. This number is much higher than previous years. Experts are concerned that these new visa rules may have an impact on the visa acceptance rate of Indian students.

What are the new changes:

English Test Score: The IELTS score required for a temporary graduate visa has been increased from 6.0 to 6.5. At the same time, this score for regular student visas has increased from 5.5 to 6.0. Also, the validity period of the English language test has been reduced to one year.

Genuine Student Test: All international students are required to take a new “Genuine Student Test” when applying for a visa. This test will assess their intentions to study in Australia.

Over-investigation: High-risk applications will be closely scrutinized.

High savings: The savings required to be eligible for a student visa have been increased to about $24,500 (about Rs 20 lakh).