Upcoming Student Visa Changes – Be careful before you lodge your new student visa

In this video, we discuss some of the new proposed changes for Australian Student Visas. We also give our opinion on how to deal with these changes and how they could impact you.

• Please note this is not migration advice, but more based on the experience of submitting thousands of student visas to immigration.

Earlier this week it was reported that:

• “International students will no longer be penalized for revealing that they want to migrate to Australia as part of their student visa application…”

• “The change is part of the move from the Genuine Student Statement requirement to a Genuine Student Test, after a push from the higher education sector”

• “Under the current test international students are required to submit a 300-word statement outlining their plans to study in Australia to prove they are a Genuine Student Statement

Although these statements have recently come out, we believe that students should still be careful prior to putting their plans into their application.

• Firstly, we find it impossible to convey your reason for genuinely studying the course in only 300 words.
• The only time we provide a 300-word statement is if the applicant is from a low-risk country studying at an assessment level 1 or 2 college.

From lodging thousands of visas, we too often see refusals for the same generic reasons.

• The main reason we usually see refusal is that path application has shown little financial incentive to return to his/her home country.

So what do we think will happen?

We presume that the new Genuine Temporary Student Requirement will likely be very similar to the current Genuine Student Statement Requirement.

Immigration may likely request new/different supporting documents in the future, but we are not sure when this will be implemented.

So we would advise that you think twice before putting down on your visa application if you intend to remain in Australia after your studies.

At PTA we have a team of 30 student visa experts who can assist you in drafting and lodging your student visas, to help navigate any concerns or confusion.

If you are considering studying in Australia. You can contact Pathwaytoaus for general or specific inquiries.