Australia introduces new visas for primary school students and their guardians

Australia is set to introduce a student visa, subclass 500, for students aged six and above, irrespective of the country they belong to starting from 1 July. As of now, student applications are evaluated on an estimated risk of immigration.

Students from China are ranked at level 3, considered high risk, which requires a lot of evidence to back up applications. This new visa is, however, aimed at attracting more Chinese home buyers by allowing primary school students from there along with their guardians to come and stay in Australia.

REA Group’s data shows that the number of prospective property buyers from China fell steeply in the early part of this year. This could change when this new visa system comes into effect.

Gavin Norris, the Australian head of Juwai.com, a top Chinese property portal, said that any measures taken by Australia to hike the intake of students from China will translate into investment increase in Australia’s real estate market’s strategic areas.

According to a spokesman for the Immigration Department, the system was devised to make applications easier for authentic students and reduce bureaucratic procedures.

Victor Huang, president of OzStudy Group, an Australian education recruitment agency, said that the change was a major improvement. As per the old model, Chinese primary school students from China could not study in Australia earlier. But this system has changed all that, Huang added.

The Immigration Department stated that this new system was not aimed at increasing enrolments at primary schools, but to allow overseas students to study for a limited period in Australia before they could attend school there.

China has the largest number of overseas students in Australia, with 136, 097 students or 27.3 of the total visas issued in this category in 2015.

This is an opportune moment for Indian parents, who wish to send their kids aged five and above to Australia along with a guardian and get a quality education. Y-Axis, with its 24 offices located all over India, will help all those who want to avail this opportunity by giving them proper advice and assistance.