Australia to ease student visa processing procedure from July

From July 2016, Australia will introduce a new student visa processing procedure to simplify the process of applying for student visas for higher education. Known as the SSVF (simplified student visa framework), this process will take the place of the current SVP (streamlined visa processing), a system in use since 2012. The changes will entail decreasing the number of student visa sub classes from eight to two, and having a new, streamlined, single immigration risk guideline for international students from across the globe. These modifications are the outcome of a spike in the number of students in international education arena, which will balance the decline in the resources industry. Numbers disclosed by the DIBP (Department for Immigration and Border Protection) indicate that the number of new students enrolling was at its peak in March 2015, an increase of 11.5 percent over the year 2014. Christopher Pyne, Australia’s Education Minister, who announced these reforms in June 2015, said that Australia, which is business-friendly, wishes to enroll authentic, top-grade students whose presence will provide a fillip to the country’s economy, local communities and employment, besides encouraging international relationships. The government got down work in order to improve competition soon after coming to office, and is also heartened to witness that the surge in the number of enrolments of foreign students is back on track, added Pyne. The present visa system in Australia is highly complex, as a result of which, Australian education institutions that attend student fairs in India spend more than 50 percent of their time explaining visa procedure rather than talking about the quality of education being imparted there. The new procedure will see students applying to all institutions in the country being evaluated for visa risk under a single method. It will depend on the country which the students hail from and the immigration adherence record of students who have studied at the institution prior to them. Similarly, English proficiency and the students’ economic requirements will depend on their native countries and the institution that they choose. With these changes in the visa application process, the Australian government hopes to make Australia more attractive than ever before for foreign students.