About 40% of the migration Tribunal’s caseload consist of dealing with Partner Visa refusals by the department of immigration, according to the latest figures from the AAT. Has the hike in the partner visa application charge resulted in applicants attempting this complex application on their own?

RMAs have also recently reported that processing times for Partner Visas are going well beyond DIBPs promised standards even with the department announcing that its currently taking up to 15 months to decide on the first stage of a partner visa application.

There have been suggestions that DIBP is “intentionally staggering visa grants across the program year, so as not to exhaust their entire allocation within the first few months. There are also suggestions that staff cutbacks and an increase in the number of low quality applications is increasing processing times.

"I have heard it said many applications prepared by the couple without professional guidance/assistance are manifestly inadequate and lead to refusals. This alone is often why a later professionally prepared appeal is successful… Perhaps the increase in refusals is due to an increase in couples preparing their own applications and I suggest this may well be driven by the increase in Partner Visa Fees,” says Robyn Oyeniyi, a prominent human rights campaigner and author of the book, Love versus Goliath on her website.

...

It will be luxurious, close to major universities, promising a great deal of communal spaces for study and gatherings but the self-contained rooms will be about the size of a carpark lot.

Three proposed skyscrapers opposite RMIT University in Melbourne city could house up to 1600 students, but these students could be living in spaces as small as 12 square metres, according to a recent report on Domain.com.au.

With more students expected to flood into Australia in the coming years, developers have started to set their sights on development sites close to the major universities in Melbourne. According to the Australian Financial Review (AFR), the student housing market is worth about $20 billion.

There are advanced plans for at least five new high-rise towers in the Melbourne CBD catering to university students. London based Scape Student Living is leading the charge, with a proposal for Melbourne’s largest and tallest student housing project. Scape has reportedly paid $560 million for several prime sites in Melbourne and Brisbane.

Scape told Domain that after six years of development it has designed rooms that fit storage space, a kitchen with cooker, sink and fridge, at least a double bed, and a “pod bathroom” with a toilet, shower and space for toiletries.

The 90% plunge in significant investor visa applications has prompted calls to Trade Minister Andrew Robb to review the program or risk losing an estimated $5 billion to $7b investments a year.

Last year’s changes to the SIV program required investors under the SIV program to put funds into venture capital and technology. This change has led to a dramatic fall in the SIV applications from 128 a month to between just eight and 12 a month this financial year, according to a report in The Australian.

West Australian Liberal backbencher Ian Goodenough has told parliament that the decision to exclude property development and established companies from the program “has proved problematic in practice”.

“This is very serious, and as a nation we could be forgoing up to $7.2bn in investment through the business migration program each year due to the recent changes in the program,” Mr Goodenough said.

James Clarke from the Australian China Business Council of West Australia told The Australian that there were concerns that the crash in applications from Chinese investors since July 1 last year meant Australia was “forfeiting more than $5bn per year to competitor markets such as Europe and the UK”.

Australian permanent residency in nine months was promised to unsuspecting foreigners who seemed to have readily fallen for the scammers advertisement which promoted a training program as "The Quick and Easy Way to get PR".

A Melbourne man and his company that duped almost a hundred people of some $800,000 in the scam, are now expected to be ordered to refund the money to their former clients and pay penalties in excess of $1 million dollars, according to a report on Channel 7 News.

The court heard that between 2012 and 2013, Radovan Laski and his company Clinica International operated an elaborate scheme promising to provide clients with Certificate III cleaning training that would lead to a job in regional Australia and qualify them for a permanent residence visa.

Educating international students has earned Australia a record $20 billion last year, spiking 13% from the previous year. The latest figures firm up education's position as Australia's third-largest export after coal and iron ore, as well as its position as the largest services export, well ahead of tourism, according to a report in The Australian Financial Review.

The lower Australian dollar together with a relatively easier student visa processing program has made an enormous impact on Australia’s education export sector. The total spending by international students in Australia – including course fees, accommodation, living expenses and recreation – was $19.2 billion in 2015, up from $17 billion the previous year, according to figures released by Australian Bureau of Statistics earlier this month.

At the moment there are about 650,000 international students in Australia, 10% more than the previous years. Over 270,000 such students are enrolled in higher education courses and the number of undertaking vocational education is shot-up 14% to 170,000 in 2015.