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Category Archives: Other

November 21, 2024

The Australian Department of Home Affairs has announced the recommencement of Evidence Level updates under the Simplified Student Visa Framework (SSVF), with the latest changes effective from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM AEDT today. This update follows the temporary pause announced in September 2024 and is based on visa outcomes from 1 October 2023 to 30 September 2024.

The new updates aim to reward education providers demonstrating improved performance while ensuring integrity within Australia’s student visa program. Adjustments will support genuine education providers to prepare for semester 1 of 2025, with country-specific Evidence Levels also being revised.

Key Highlights of the Update

  • Improved Performance: Providers showing better Evidence Level ratings will advance in Evidence Levels.
  • Addressing Decline: Providers with deteriorating Evidence Level ratings will be downgraded, except those in higher education, schools, and public vocational education and training sectors, which remain paused at their current levels.
  • Monitoring Integrity: The Department will closely monitor outcomes and may implement further interim changes if inappropriate recruitment practices are detected.

Context and Trends

Student visa applications for the first quarter of 2024-25 have decreased by 28% compared to the same period last year, with 99,868 applications lodged compared to 112,605 in 2018-19. Encouragingly, some offshore markets are seeing improved visa application quality and lower refusal rates. However, refusal rates for older onshore applications have risen due to stricter integrity measures and the introduction of the Genuine Student test.

Ongoing Engagement and Support

The Department has committed to expanding communication with the education sector and recently announced workshops on recruiting genuine students. These workshops have seen substantial interest from education providers.

Providers are encouraged to submit high-quality, decision-ready visa applications to facilitate timely processing for the 2025 academic year.

About Evidence Levels

Evidence Levels, updated biannually in March and September, reflect adverse immigration outcomes such as visa refusals and cancellations. These updates guide the financial and English language requirements for student visa applicants. The Department stresses the shared responsibility among education providers, migration agents, and students to maintain the integrity of Australia’s international education sector.

Routine Evidence Level updates are scheduled to resume in March 2025, with ongoing monitoring ensuring the program aligns with trends in visa outcomes and recruitment practices.

August 28, 2024

In 15 August 2024, South Australia announced the state nominated skilled migration program for 2024-2025.

There are 464 occupations are available for the onshore streams and 427 occupations are open for the offshore stream. With onshore stream, there are 3 sub-streams for the applicants who meet requirements can submit a Registration of Interest (ROI) through one of the following streams:

  1. Skilled Employment in South Australia stream – for applicants who have shown commitment to South Australia and have South Australian work experience in their skilled occupation. 
  2.  South Australian Graduates stream – for applicant have graduated and work in SA in their skilled occupation. 
  3. Outer Regional Skilled Employment stream – for skilled migrants who are currently living and working in an outer regional area of South Australia in their nominated occupation may be eligible for state nomination through the Outer Regional Skilled Employment stream.

The general eligible under those streams are:

  • Have an active EOI on Department of Home Affairs’ SkillSelect system 
  • Currently live and work in South Australia 
  • The applicant’s nominated occupation is eligible under the eligible stream on South Australia’s Skilled Occupation List 
  • Be under 45 years of age at time of state nomination is approved 
  • Have a valid and positive skills assessment
  • Have at least Competent English (IELTS 6.0 or equivalent)
  • Score at least 65 points in the Department of Home Affairs’ points test (including state nomination points) 

Apart from those general requirement, each streams has it own requirement as following:

Skilled Employment in South Australia stream: The applicant have been residing and working in South Australia for at least the last 12 months, in a full-time (at least 30 hours per week) job.

Australian Graduates stream:

  • The applicant have completed their qualification at a South Australian education provider
  • Have resided in South Australia for at least one year during their studies 
  • Have been residing and working in South Australia for at least the last 6 months in a full-time job (at least 30 hours per week).

Outer Regional Skilled Employment stream: The applicant ave been living and working in Outer Regional SA for the last 9 months, and be currently employed, in a full-time job (at least 30 hours per week).

For the prospective skill migrants currently residing offshore and would like to apply for the Offshore stream, South Australia will be assessing candidates on merit by the following factors:

  • English language ability
  • Skilled employment years (at least 3 to 5 years) and field of skilled employment
  • EOI points

Quota for visa 190/491 for South Australia are 3.800 slots

• Visa 190: 3.000 slots

• Visa 491: 800 slots

August 28, 2024

Victoria’s 2024-25 skilled visa nomination program (subclass 190 and subclass 491) is opened from 14 August 2024.

The Australian Government’s Department of Home Affairs has allocated 5,000 skilled visa nomination places to Victoria for the 2024-25 program.

Victoria’s allocation consists of:

  • Skilled Nominated visa (subclass 190) – 3,000 places
  • Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 491) – 2,000 places

There are some changes in the 2024-25 FY:

  1. Submitting a Registration of Interest (ROI):
  2. To be invited to apply for Victorian skilled visa nomination, applicant must firstly make or update an Expression of Interest (EOI) via the Australian Government’s SkillSelect and then submit ROI.
  3. All Registrations of Interest submitted in previous years have expired. The applicant must submit a new ROI
  4.   Employment requirement

For visa 190, there is no minimum work experience and hours of work requirement. If the applicant is living in Victoria and not working, working in non-skilled employment, or working for an employer not physically located in Victoria, they are still eligible to apply for nomination, but they are not eligible to claim earnings in their ROI. If they are living overseas, they are not required to claim earnings in their ROI.

For visa 491, if the applicant is living in Victoria, they must provide an estimate of their annual earnings in their ROI. If they are not working, working in non-skilled employment, or working for an employer who is not physically located in regional Victoria, they are not eligible to apply for nomination. If they are living overseas, they are not required to claim earnings in their ROI.

August 26, 2024

The Australian Government has provided Tasmania’s skilled nominated visa allocation for the 2024-25 program year.

A total of 2860 nomination places have been issued this year as part of Tasmania’s allocation of state and territory nominated visa categories. These include:

  • Skilled Nominated (subclass 190) visa: 2,100 places
  • Skilled Work Regional (subclass 491) visa: 760 places

There are some updates for the 2024-25 program includes:

  1. Changes to priority attributes

Green priority attributes have been reduced for the Tasmanian Skilled Employment, Skilled Graduate Established Resident and Business Owner pathways. Some previously green attributes have been moved to a new “orange-plus” category.

Candidates with at least one orange-plus attribute will be a high priority and highly likely to receive an invitation to apply for nomination within six months. The higher the orange-plus attributes a candidate attains, the sooner an invitation will be issued.

All subclass candidates with at least one orange-plus attribute will be invited to apply for nomination this program year.

Employment must be skilled (ANZSCO Skill Levels 1-3) to claim orange-plus attributes.

  • 19 new occupation groups, comprising 78 individual occupations, have been added to the Tasmanian Onshore Skilled Occupation List for the subclass 190 Tasmanian Skilled Employment pathway. Candidates with a skills assessment and directly related employment qualify for permanent visa nomination after six months of work.

The following 19 occupation groups have been added to the TOSOL.

1311Advertising, Public Relations and Sales Managers 
1322Finance Managers 
1342Health and Welfare Services Managers 
1351ICT Managers 
2223Financial Investment Advisers and Managers 
2231Human Resource Professionals 
2242Archivists, Curators and Records Managers 
2321Architects and Landscape Architects 
2325Interior Designers 
2326Urban and Regional Planners 
2343Environmental Scientists 
2713Solicitors 
3112Medical Technicians
3114Science Technicians
3129Other Building and Engineering Technicians
3611Animal Attendants and Trainers
3991Boat Builders and Shipwrights
4111Ambulance Officers and Paramedics
5996Insurance Investigators, Loss Adjusters and Risk Surveyors
  • Changes to income thresholds in minimum eligibility requirement and priority attributes based on updates to Australian median and average earnings and the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold.
  • Employment with a related skills assessment as Chef, Cook, or Café or Restaurant manager in a fast casual restaurant or café business is now accepted
  • An updated critical roles list (for gold priority in the Tasmania Skilled Employment, Skilled Graduate and Established Resident pathways). 37 occupations have been added to the critical roles list and 30 have been removed.
AddedRemoved
135111 Chief Information Officer
135112 ICT Project Manager
135199 ICT Managers nec
224211 Archivist
224212 Gallery or Museum Curator
224213 Health Information Manager
224214 Records Manager
233311 Electrical Engineer
233411 Electronics Engineer
233911 Aeronautical Engineer
233912 Agricultural Engineer
233913 Biomedical Engineer
233914 Engineering Technologist
233915 Environmental Engineer
233916 Naval Architect / Marine Designer
233999 Engineering Professionals nec
234211 Chemist
234212 Food Technologist
234213 Wine Maker
261111 ICT Business Analyst
261112 Systems Analyst
261113 User Experience Designer (ICT)
261211 Multimedia Specialist
261212 Web Developer
263111 Computer Network and Systems Engineer
263112 Network Administrator
263113 Network Analyst
263211 ICT Quality Assurance Engineer
263212 ICT Support Engineer
263213  ICT Systems Test Engineer
263299 ICT Support and Test Engineers nec
411211 Dental Hygienist
411212 Dental Prosthetist
411213 Dental Technician
411214 Dental Therapist
411311 Diversional Therapist
411411 Enrolled Nurse
133111 Construction Project Manager
133112 Project Builder
133211 Engineering Manager  
232212 Surveyor  
232213 Cartographer
232214 Other Spatial Scientist
232411 Graphic Designer
232412 Illustrator
232413 Multimedia Designer
232414 Web Designer
233211 Civil Engineer
233212 Geotechnical Engineer
233213  Quantity Surveyor
233214 Structural Engineer
233215 Transport Engineer
234111 Agricultural Consultant
234113 Forester / Forest Scientist
234711 Veterinarian
252111 Chiropractor
252112 Osteopath
311112 Agricultural and Agritech Technician 312111 Architectural Draftsperson
312113 Building Inspector
312114 Construction Estimator
312116 Surveying or Spatial Science Technician   312199 Architectural, Building and Surveying Technicians nec
312211 Civil Engineering Draftsperson
312212 Civil Engineering Technician
312511 Mechanical Engineering Draftsperson
312512 Mechanical Engineering Technician
April 24, 2024

When it comes to studying abroad, one crucial aspect for international students is the proof of funds requirement set by governments of various study destinations. This requirement mandates that prospective international students have a certain amount of funds immediately accessible to them to be eligible for a study visa. In 2024, there is considerable variation in these minimum requirements across different countries, ranging from less than US$5,000 to over US$15,000. Here, we delve into the details of proof of funds requirements across 20 study destinations, highlighting the diversity and impact of these financial considerations on students’ study abroad decisions.


Understanding Proof of Funds Requirements

The table below presents the proof of funds requirements for international students in 2024 across 20 study destinations:

Study DestinationProof of Funds Requirement (USD)
Australia$15,690
Canada$14,930
China$2,500 per year of study
Czech Republic$1,600 per year
Finland$7,560 per year
France$5,895 for nine months
Germany$11,952 for one year
Ireland$10,680 immediately available
Italy$3,375 for nine months
Japan$12,970 for one year
New Zealand$11,840 per year
Portugal$10,500 for 12 months
Singapore$6,175
South Korea$20,000
Spain$5,400 for nine months
Switzerland$23,070 per year
UAEVaries by university, up to $15,000
UK$14,940 for nine months
USVaries by institution, can exceed $70,000 for one year

Key Insights and Analysis

  1. Variation in Requirements: The data reveals significant diversity in proof of funds requirements. While some countries like China and Singapore have relatively lower requirements, others such as Switzerland and the US set high financial benchmarks for international students.
  2. Impact on Students: Higher proof of funds requirements can act as a deterrent for some students, influencing their choice of study destination based on affordability and accessibility.
  3. Considerations Beyond Funds: It’s important to note that proof of funds is just one factor among many influencing students’ decisions. Quality of education, job prospects, immigration policies, and cultural factors also play pivotal roles.
  4. Dynamic Nature: Proof of funds requirements can change annually and may vary based on factors such as the student’s country of origin and the type of study program.
  5. Consultation and Research: Students and agents are advised to consult individual institutions and government sources for up-to-date information on proof of funds requirements.

Conclusion

In conclusion, while proof of funds is an essential aspect of studying abroad, it’s part of a broader spectrum of considerations that international students weigh carefully before making their educational journey decisions. Understanding these financial requirements alongside other factors is crucial for making informed choices and ensuring a smooth study experience abroad.