₦airaland Forum

NB1912:
Key Takeaways from the recent migration review impacting current and prospective students.

1. New Genuine Student Test (GST): A new Genuine Student test (GST) will be introduced for all international students. A few factors will be taken into consideration in determining the students who meet the GST requirements such as, the circumstances of the applicant, your academic or career progression and the usefulness of the intended study to your future career prospects. The new GST will ensure there is more scrutiny on student visa applications and separate genuine students from non-genuine students.

2. Increased English language requirements: Student visa English language requirement will be raised from IELTS 5.5 to IELTS 6.0. Education providers are now required to report students English language proficiency at enrolment. This means that if an education providers English language requirement is 6.5 for your preferred course, you will be required to provide an IELTS score of 6.5 when applying for a student visa. All student visa applicants will now be required to provide English language score during visa application.
In addition, 485 visa English requirement will be raised from IELTS 6.0 to IELTS 6.5.

3. Restrict onshore visa hopping and age limit for 485 visa: 485 visa holders will be restricted from transferring back to student visa onshore. You will be required to leave Australia and apply for a new student visa. The maximum age for a 485 visa will reduce from 50 to 35. This means if you are over 35 you will no longer be eligible for a 485 visa after your study.

4. Shorter 485 visa: The government has backtracked on it's initial longer 485 visa that was announced earlier this year. The government will revert back to 2 years 485 visa for bachelors and masters by coursework, 3 years for masters by research and 3 years for PHD.

5. Clearer post graduate visa pathways: Temporary Skills Shortage visa (and future Skills in Demand visa) will be changed to give 485 visa holders more opportunity to move on to a skilled visa. Proposed reforms to the points test will also give graduates working in skilled jobs related to their line of study faster pathways to permanent residency. In summary, If you get a job related to your course of study and the job is on high demand your chances of securing a permanent visa will be higher. If the job is not related to your course of study, no PR.

Hello Gurus in the house, your advise will be highly appreciated. I started application for Aussie Universities this December, expecting offers any moment. But this new policy just put me off balance. I have Master degree, submitted applications for another Master's program, and also still trying to get Supervisor's approval for PhD, so i can have options to choose from.
However, I am 36, which means I would be ineligible for post study visa. I don't know if i should still go ahead with Australia, hoping that the policy could change favourably before I finish the program. Or I should channel my attention to another Country, though Australia remains my top choice.

obicares@gmail.com

08039328701

Please I will be grateful if you can forward me the ebook . obynobch@yahoo.com

Thanks

Pls add 08039328701

Misplaced priority