Manoeuvring through the student visa application process can be a trying experience and the rules constantly evolve as immigration policies change to suit the political climate. Sara Custer spoke with 20 major education agencies about the visa journey and charted their insight into the pros and cons of systems in top study destinations.
Despite Australia’s international student numbers improving while political tensions in the UK and the US appear to deter students, high costs and the rigidity of SSVF could dampen further growth.
Australia’s assistant minister for immigration and border protection, Alex Hawke, stepped in to address visa delays that struck the international education sector after the introduction of the SSVF in July.
The Simplified Student Visa Framework came into force this month, promising to level the playing field by enabling students across all education sectors to access streamlined visa processing. The new framework has been broadly welcomed, but there may still be hiccups to overcome.
In his first ever visit to China, Australian Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull courted Chinese tourists and students by introducing simplified student visa categories and piloting a 10-year visitor visa. The prime minister also declared 2017 will be the Australia-China year of tourism.
