Australia reduces 2 years of post-graduation stay for international students

Australia: The time international students are allowed to stay after graduation in many fields and professions is only 2-4 years, instead of 4-6 years as before, from the middle of this year.

The Australian Department of Education announced the information on its website on February 28. The agency said the decision was being considered in the context of the changing economic environment, as well as the country's new immigration strategy. The new regulations will be implemented in mid-2024. The Australian Department of Education has not provided more specific information.

List of affected industries and occupations

Previously, from July 1, 2023, Australia increased the time for international students to stay and work after graduation from 2 to 4 years for some bachelor's programs; from 3 to 5 years for some master's programs and from 4 to 6 years for all doctoral programs.

Education Minister Jason Clare explained at the time that the policy was aimed at supporting businesses - which were "thirsty" for workers after the Covid-19 pandemic. Priority occupations and occupations were mainly in the fields of health, teaching, engineering and agriculture , with more than 3,000 eligible courses.

With the new announcement, this policy will end, after only about a year of implementation.

International students at the Australian National University. Photo: ANU — International students at the Australian National University. Photo: *ANU*

Australia has recently made many moves to tighten visas for international students.

In December 2023, the country announced plans to halve its immigration intake over the next two years. The English language requirement for undergraduate students will increase from 5.5 to 6.0 IELTS, and for postgraduate students, the requirement will be 6.5 instead of 6.0. In addition, international students will have to take a new test called The Genuine Student Test (GST), replacing the old Temporary Entrant (GTE) report, to ensure that the visa is used for study purposes. Second applications for student visas to extend their stay will be subject to increased scrutiny.

In addition, since July last year, international students in Australia have only been allowed to work a maximum of 24 hours per week, instead of being unlimited as before. And from October, international students coming to Australia must have more than 24,500 AUD (nearly 380 million VND) in their savings account, an increase of 17%. Schools are also not allowed to allow students to take additional courses before completing the main program for a full six months to prevent the situation of switching visas to work.

Statistics from the Department of Home Affairs show that about 19% of international students were not granted visas in the second half of 2023, the highest in the past three years.

Australia is currently one of the most popular study abroad destinations, after the US and Canada. According to statistics from the Australian Department of Education, as of October last year, the country had about 768,000 international students, with the largest numbers coming from China, India, and Nepal. Vietnam has more than 31,000 international students, ranking 6th.

Dawn

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