Policy

Highly-skilled temporary foreign workers in Canada may find it easier to obtain permanent residency under a new, flexible visa scheme outlined this week by Immigration Minister Jason Kenney. This will impact international students choosing to stay in Canada via the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) visa category.

New Zealand’s tertiary education minister, Steven Joyce, is visiting the Gulf states of Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia to raise New Zealand’s profile as an international study destination. He will also support education companies as he meets with local ministers and attends IECHE, a major international education fair in Saudi Arabia.

All Pakistani students applying for UK visas will face a compulsory interview according to news reports. A pilot study is said to have revealed that up to 40% of Pakistani students could be ineligible based on poor English skills, despite rules requiring proof of English ability. UKBA is reported to be considering rolling out the requirement for other nationals also...

Joining universities, select private colleges and TAFEs in Australia are to benefit from streamlined visa processing designed to boost their competitiveness. The move follows the streamlining of university visa processing last month. Under the scheme all overseas students applying for visas will be deemed low-risk – or from ‘level 1 risk assessment’ countries.

The UK Home Affairs Select Committee has produced its third report of the year into the work of UKBA and there was more criticism of UKBA operations. MPs called on UKBA to recognise the term Bogus Colleges and ensure that inspections to Tier 4 sponsors (education establishments) must be unannounced.

On March 7, the outgoing Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) Minister of Higher Education announced a reduction in the number of recognised "excellent" universities in the UK, for scholarship students. Since then, many UK universities have been pushing for re-recognition, and a UK Minister has backed them.

Increasing numbers of Mexican students looking to study or research in a foreign country has left the Mexican government scrambling to find sufficient funds for graduate scholarships. Although the monthly stipends available are low, there has been rocketing demand for access to them, with over 500 applying for 150 bursaries...

A website that allows students to compare Australia's 39 public universities met harsh criticism from industry professionals when it went live last week. They complain that some of the indicators used are not true measures of quality education – particularly student satisfaction – and that other HE and FE providers are also compared on the site.

Russian president-elect Vladimir Putin plans to offer loans to Russian students to enable them to study abroad at the world's top universities. Areas of specialism prioritised will include higher education management, state and municipal administration and high-tech companies. Loans will not need to be repaid if students return and work in Russia.

New Zealand announced yesterday that it is scrapping the requirement for international students to have full medicals from July. They will only need to be screened for tuberculosis. Immigration Minister Nathan Guy says it will save potential migrants NZ$17 million a year and help attract low-risk, high-value students.

The Australian state of Victoria is lobbying the federal government for more shares of flights out of Asia to counter-balance the amount of connecting flights landing in Sydney. It is also calling for vocational education providers to be able to leverage the new visa rules that apply to universities.

The New South Wales (NSW) government in Australia has an ambition to extend streamlined visa processing and post-study work rights to international students at a broader range of institutions, including vocational providers. This is part of a new strategy to leverage business migration.

In line with goals to improve foreign language learning in France, a new website has launched to help French children, teenagers and adults learn English. The englishbyyourself.fr service was commissioned for €3million..

Australia is to streamline the process of obtaining a visa for degree study as part of number of new measures to boost international education. The new system, to be introduced March 24, transfers the risk of proving the validity of applications from the government to universities, “making the application process simpler and faster”.

A House of Lords sub-committee has called on the British government to make language learning compulsory in UK primary and secondary schools to encourage more British participation in the Erasmus programme. It also advised the government to “remain vigilant” about retaining the UK’s competitive position as a study destination.