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Immigration Daily News Indian and Nepalese students turn to Australia as the UK tightens visa rules
Indian and Nepalese students turn to Australia as the UK tightens visa rules
Edging toward AU$19 billion, Australia’s international education sector has hit record levels as tensions surrounding immigration in other, once popular student destinations like the US and UK rise and foreign student inflow slides.
The focus on relaxing student visa laws in Australia has resulted in a 15 per cent increase on the previous year in the spending of the estimated half a million foreign students in Australia according to figures recently released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
These figures affirm that international education remains on of Australia’s most important exports, says Senator Richard Colbeck, the Minister for Tourism and International Education. Education is Australia’s third-largest export after iron ore, which is worth AUS$54.5 billion, and coal, which is valued at AUS$37.9 billion.
“International education is also a major generator of jobs, with the sector supporting over 130,000 jobs in cities and regions throughout Australia,” said Senator Colbeck in a recent media release. “The government is determined to ensure the international education sector continues to be one of the major strengths of the Australian economy.”
The total export income generated by all international education activity was just short of AUS$19 billion. This comprised spending by onshore students of some AU$18.2 billion, and offshore earnings from other educational services and royalties which generated an additional AUS$603 million.
In contrast, media reports indicate that students are steering away from the US and UK due to tighter migration laws which are set to get tougher. The UK’s Home Office has reportedly proposed the introduction of tighter student visa regulations, which could see a cut in foreign student numbers by up to 15 per cent.
Student numbers in Australia for students from India and Nepal - which are traditional source countries for the UK education sector - have shown sharp increases over the past year of about 42% and 27% respectively.
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“International education is also a major generator of jobs, with the sector supporting over 130,000 jobs in cities and regions throughout Australia,” said Senator Colbeck in a recent media release. “The government is determined to ensure the international education sector continues to be one of the major strengths of the Australian economy.”
Would someone please tell this to DIBP CO-s too, especially offshore ones? Please?
This statement seems to be in striking opposition of occasional visa refusal letters with the justification like: " The applicant could study the same course cheaper in their home country therefore they are not deemed to be genuine students". So what's true? Do we want students to spend money in Australia or we want them to stay away?