Australia Raised the amount that foreign students must deposit to get a visa

Listen to this article

EDUCAST,  Australia has again increased the amount foreign students must deposit to get a visa. Effective from next Friday, Australia has raised the amount that foreign students must deposit to obtain a visa to 29,710 Australian dollars.

Australia previously increased the amount students must save in the month of October last year. In order to control the rapid immigration of students, the Australian government has adopted a new policy in 7 months, according to the Reuters news agency. In October, the savings amount for foreign students to obtain visas was fixed to A$24,505. Before that, students had to deposit 21,041 Australian dollars.

Australia has also warned colleges not to admit fake students. Colleges have been warned to take action if they are found to have entered Australia under various pretexts and convert them into student visas by adjusting their settings. Australian Home Affairs Minister Claire O’Neill sent a letter to 34 such colleges, Reuters reported. If found and confirmed, the college administrators have been warned to be jailed for up to 2 years and banned.

The rate of international students in Australia had increased by 60 per cent. By September of last year alone, 548,800 students from different countries entered to Australia, according to Reuters. That is the largest number of students in a single year.

Home Affairs Minister O’Neill said the government expected its policy to halve the number of immigrants to Australia over the next two years. “We are significantly reducing the level of migration,” she said.