Today, I want to bring you a very bad news, especially for international students, which has also caused a small "earthquake" in the circle!
From 1 July 2024, the Australian government has made significant adjustments to the 500 student visa fee.
This change will have a significant impact on international students who plan to study in Australia.
1. The fee for the first application has skyrocketed
For first-time applicants applying for a 500 student visa, the visa fee will skyrocket from $710 to $1,600, regardless of whether they are applying within or outside Australia.
This means that the fee has increased by 125%, almost 2.25 times the original!!
Before the price increase, Australia's visa application fees were already the second most expensive in the major student market. The cost of a student visa for other study abroad countries is equivalent to: AUD 345 for New Zealand, AUD 285 for the US, AUD 170 for Canada and AUD 950 for the UK.
After the price increase, Australia's student visa application fee has officially become: the most expensive in the world!
This study is really going to be unaffordable, however, the renewal fee is higher...
What's even more surprising is that for students who renew their visa for the second time in Australia, there is an additional $700 to pay in addition to the basic $1,600, bringing the total cost to a staggering $2,300.
Australia's Consumer Price Index (CPI) is relatively high among developed countries, so some of the price increases are understandable.
The government may take this factor into account in order to adjust the cost of the visa.
Although it is expected that there may be a certain price increase, such a large increase is still shocking. This nearly doubling increase is well beyond the usual inflation adjustment range.
According to Australian media AFR, as the government stepped up efforts to reduce the number of temporary immigrants, the non-refundable visa application fee for international students rose by 125% in the new fiscal year on July 1.
The Australian government confirmed at a press conference on Monday morning that the visa application fee had risen from $710 to $1,600 at midnight on Sunday without any prior warning.
The increase, which was expected in the federal budget in May but did not disclose the exact magnitude of the increase, makes Australia by far the most expensive country to apply for a visa, and a further significant reduction in the number of applications is expected.
The move comes as the government is set to discuss its controversial plan to limit the number of international students in the House of Representatives later this week, with immigration remaining a political issue.
The strong return of international students, backpackers and other temporary migrants in the wake of the pandemic has pushed net overseas migration to record levels, but various government initiatives to restrict the entry of non-genuine students have begun to reduce the number of migrants.
At the end of May this year, the number of international student visas approved in Australia stood at 330,500, the same figure as in 2016 and well below the 577,300 approved in 2022-23.
Still, opposition leader Peter Dutton has pledged to slash the number of immigrants in order to increase housing affordability and reduce pressure on urban infrastructure and services.
Home Secretary Clare O'Neil said the increase in tuition fees would help "clean up" the international education sector.
"This sector has the capacity to drive growth and opportunity in our country, but to do that, we need all sectors to work together to clean it up," O'Neill said.
"The changes that come into effect today will help restore the integrity of our international education system and create a more equitable, smaller and more Australian-serving immigration system."
However, immigration expert Abul Rizvi called the decision "very bad policy" that did little for those most determined to enter the country on a student visa, especially those with bad motives.
"It's a very bad policy because it does little for students who are struggling to go to college in their home country or with our competitors, but it will discourage good students who may have a choice," Rizvi said. "It's shooting yourself in the foot."
Before the price increase, Australia's visa application fees were already the second most expensive in the major student market. The cost of a student visa for other study abroad countries is equivalent to: AUD 345 for New Zealand, AUD 285 for the US, AUD 170 for Canada and AUD 950 for the UK.
II. "Naked Exploitation"
Phil Honeywood, executive director of the Australian Association of International Education, said it was another blow to an international education industry that was already "facing a thousand cuts".
"Given that this is a non-refundable fee, this is the worst exploitation of young people overseas," Honeywood said.
The additional revenue will be used to help implement measures, including those in the recent Higher Education Review (known as the University Agreement), as well as financial support for local apprentices and employers.
Rizvi said the government had not provided any evidence that the fee hike would not discourage quality students, and that "applying for a visa is turning into an expensive gamble" because the application fee is non-refundable.
The latest figures show that one in four visas is now denied, up from one in 10 a year ago.
Other visa types also saw small increases of varying magnitudes:
(Photo: Aoqi Education)
Xiaohongshu also shared the news with netizens:
3. What is the impact on international students?
This policy will significantly increase the financial burden on international students. This can become an important consideration for many students who are planning to study in Australia and may even influence their decision to study abroad.
Faced with such a large increase in fees, some students may need to reevaluate their study abroad plans. This could include delaying enrollment, finding additional sources of funding, or considering alternative study abroad destinations.
While the quality of education in Australia remains attractive, this policy change may influence some students' decision to study abroad. For students planning to study in Australia, it becomes even more important to plan financially well in advance.
In addition, Australian universities have very strong opinions on the government...
Recently, the Australian media Sydney Morning Herald reported that a number of Australian universities said that only a few weeks before the start of the second semester, only half of the international students they recruited had their student visas processed by the Immigration Department. Some agencies see this as further evidence that the government is inhibiting foreign students from entering the country because of the political battle over immigration.
These visa delays have mostly occurred at second-tier universities, with Home Affairs Minister Claire O'Neill ordering the department to prioritise student visa applications from top universities, a move it estimates has cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
The government has introduced legislation, which will come into force in January next year, that will limit the number of foreign students with a view to halving net overseas migration from 528,000 in 2022-23 by July next year.
In the year to May, about one in five potential students' visa applications were denied.
Professor Sarah Todd, vice-chancellor for international admissions at Griffith University, said it was hard to imagine that the government's delay in student visa processing was "not intentional".
4. Universities face bans for violating the international student cap
"This obviously has a significant financial impact – not just for the university, but for the local community," Todd said.
Mike Ferguson, vice chancellor of international at Charles Sturt University, said the school saw a similar trend as it did before the first semester, when many incoming students missed their start dates because their visas were not approved in time.
"The current way visas are processed seems to be linked to policies that reduce net overseas migration," Ferguson said.
Many universities will begin their second semester next month.
Home Secretary O'Neill said the government was "making difficult decisions to restore the integrity of the international education system, which had been undermined by a decade of neglect by the previous government".
Labor and the League are facing off over immigration ahead of the next federal election, as both link the post-pandemic surge in international students to Australia's housing shortage.
At the end of May, the number of student visa holders was close to 674,000, up from more than 671,000 two months earlier. In the year to May, about one in five potential student visa applications were denied.
Australian University chief executive Luke Sheehy warned this month that an estimated $500 million funding shortfall could result in the loss of 4,500 jobs due to slower visa processing and increased cancellation rates due to O'Neill's directive to prioritise visa applications for top universities.
However, administrators at well-known universities such as the University of Sydney and the Australian National University say that their enrolled students are also facing delays.
Some in the industry have speculated that the government is considering abandoning the ministerial directive before the student cap is in place, which could be implemented depending on the circumstances of each institution.
Phil Honeywood, president of the Australian Association of International Education, said the directive distorted the number of international students, adding that the government had expressed a desire to "distribute approved visas more evenly over the next term".