The diverse aspects of being a immigrant student in Australia

Australia is emerging as a preferred destination for international students, more so for students from India. This is evident by the fact that more than half million immigrant students from more than 200 nations are studying in Australia. The Chinese students were the largest group of overseas students in Australia with 27% followed by students from India with 11%. If you are also one among those innumerable aspiring students to this nation then you must bear these aspects in your mind. Australia has declared in the second half of 2016 that all student visa applications of immigrant students and education agents will now be processed digitally through an immigration account. All the students will now have only one category of visa for them and it will be Subclass 500 visas. This is applicable to all the students irrespective of their stream of education. The students across the globe who wish to study in Australia will be evaluated for four important parameters. Firstly they need to qualify through an appropriate test accepted internationally for the proficiency in the English language. It could be TOEFL IBT, IELTS, Cambridge Advanced English, or Pearson Test of English – Academic. The qualifying points will be dependent on the course selected by the applicants of study visa. The international students who wish to study in Australia will have to give evidence of having financial ability to fund their study and stay in Australia. This will include enough funds to cater to live and study in the country for 12 months. They must give proofs of the required annual income and a letter which supports this claim from the department of Trade, Foreign Affairs or Defense department. In addition to the English language and financial ability proofs, the overseas immigrant students to Australia must also satisfy the health requirements. They must purchase the Overseas Student Health Cover which costs around 437 Australian dollars for one student for 12 months. The DIBP of Australia has as specified that to satisfy the character requirements every applicant will be assessed for satisfying the criminal records. They may also have to obtain a certificate for penal clearance or a statement from the police department. The essential documents that the students need to process their study application visas include duly filled application form 157A, the receipt of visa application fee, copy of the bio-data page of the passport and letter of offer from the Australian university or educational institute. Apart from the above mentioned documental evidence they will also have to give proof of financial ability to cater to the stay and study in Australia, the proof of having the coverage of health insurance, results of the English language proficiency tests, results of verification for criminal records, and four latest passport size photos. Diverse universities in Australia offer scholarships to the immigrant students who wish to study in Australia. Apart from these the government of Australia also provides various scholarships to the immigrant students. They are offered by the Department of Education, Department of Foreign Affairs and Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research. The students from nations in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia-Pacific region are eligible for these scholarships. Students from all nations are eligible for the International Postgraduate Research Scholarships. Only students of New Zealand cannot avail this scholarship. This scholarship is for a period of two years and caters to tuition fees and health expenditure. The expenditure for studying in Australia varies across diverse courses. It starts with a minimum of 15,000 Australian dollars for a Bachelor’s degree course, 20,000 Australian dollars for a Master’s degree course and 14,000 Australian dollars for A Doctoral degree course. Apart from the above-mentioned cost expenditure estimation, some of the universities in Australia also have Amenities fees and Student services charges. An additional fund requirement of 18,000 Australian dollars was also estimated by the HSBC recently. If one takes into consideration the expenditures for basic amenities, gas, electricity, food and cost for accommodation, it comes to an average of a minimum of 300 Australian dollars per week.