Student Visa Program Report Published

Friday, 11 February 2011

The Government has released Australia’s first comprehensive report on the student visa program, which provides an invaluable insight into emerging student visa trends, the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Chris Bowen MP, said today.

The Student Visa Program Report now available online at www.immi.gov.au outlines comparative student visa applications, grants and trends over the past seven years as well as application rates for the first six months of 2010-11.

“This report provides the information the international student sector has been seeking to better track emerging student visa trends,” Mr Bowen said.

“For example, it outlines a number of positives for the international student program, including that half of all offshore student visa applications are processed within 12 calendar days, while half of all onshore student visas applications take only 18 calendar days to process.”

The report also shows that while student visa applications have declined from record high levels in 2008-09, applications in 2009-10 remained at a level similar to 2007-08.

Grant numbers for the postgraduate research sector and English language intensive courses for overseas students (ELICOS) remained relatively steady during 2008-09 and 2009-10.

Of the 56,834 former student visa holders who transferred to other visas in the first half of 2010-11, almost 30 per cent continued their studies in Australia and were granted another student visa.

“This report will be a valuable resource for anyone who has a stake in the international student sector and will provide much needed data on which the sector can base its planning for the future,” Mr Bowen said.

Mr Bowen and Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Jobs and Workplace Relations, Senator Chris Evans, jointly announced a review of the student visa program in December 2010, which includes measures designed to better inform the international student sector.

These steps include a commitment to improve information exchange between the government and the sector through the provision of a quarterly statistical publication on the student visa program. The publication will be updated on a quarterly basis, to keep abreast of trends and other major issues affecting the student visa program.

Source: Chris Bowen.net – Australian Labor