Applications for Australian student visas still declining

Australia, 15th February: The number of foreigners choosing Australia as a nation for pursuing studies is showing a continuous fall, official figures released by the Australian immigration department show.

This is going to send alarming bells to several Australian colleges and universities who seem to be find it hard to cope with the decline in the international students in the past year.

The data maintains that the number of applications from international students for Australian student visas went down by 32 percent in the second half of the year 2010 as compared to the applications received in the second half of 2009.

Australia witnessed a fall of 15 percent to 29 percent in the number of Australian student visa applications from five nations which happen to be the major sources of overseas students including China, India, South Korea, Thailand and Brazil respectively.

This is despite the fact that Australia has been taking steps for promoting the nation for studying. In November last year, a delegation of Australian university leaders led by Chris Evans, the Minister for Tertiary Education, reached China for inviting more and more foreigners to study in Australia.

Reasons for continuous decline in Australian student visa applications---

Changes in the Australian student visa rules, global economic slowdown and increasing value of the Australian national currency have contributed to the recent declines in the applicants for Australian student visas in the last two years period.

Meanwhile, the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Chris Bowen and Chris Evans released the first ever detailed report about the Student Visa Program.

Report reveals vital information –

The report unveils the information required by the international student sector concerning the Australian student visa trends for the last seven years, Mr. Bowen asserted.

The report also provides details about the rates of international student applications as well as the grants for the first-half of the year 2010-11.

Some of the positive points highlighted by the report include processing of nearly 50 percent of offshore applications from international students within record 12 days while processing time of onshore student visa applications is 18 calendar days, Mr. Bowen clarified.

However, during the year 2008-09 and 2009-10, the number of grants for ELICOS(English language intensive courses for Overseas Students) and the postgraduate research sector did not show any significant changes.