Student Visa Cancellations
It has been reported in the Australian on the 2nd of September that the Department of Immigration and Border Protection cancelled 10,949 student visas between the start of July last year and the end of June this year, compared with 8018 in the previous year and 8930 in the year ending June 2013.
The visa cancellation figures, indicate that Chinese students had the biggest number of student visa cancellations; 1793 in the past 12 months. More than 1160 South Korean students had their visas cancelled, followed in number by India, Vietnam and Thailand. The total number of student visas issued rose by 2 per cent, from 292,060 to 299,540.
The new figures come as the government puts finishing touches on he SSVF (simplified student visa framework), with a working group of international education sector stakeholders holding its concluding meeting last week. The updated framework will mean a broader, simpler, fairer framework for both international students and Australian education providers which will reduce the number of student visa subclasses from eight to two, by the middle of next year.
The altered student visa framework will will replace both the Streamlined Visa Processing (SVP) arrangements and the current Assessment Level Framework and will apply to all international students.
It will lay out a student’s financial and English language evidentiary requirements based on two things: the immigration profile of the student’s country of citizenship and of their education provider.
Phil Honeywood, chief executive of the International Education Association of Australia, said the present system allowed low-quality education providers to misuse the visa streamlining scheme. The Streamline Visa Processing arrangements end at the end of the financial year 2015-16. The agencies responsible for the quality assurance and regulation of education services for overseas students will work closely with the Department of Immigration and Border Protection on the new regime.
