The Australian Government has announced the introduction of a simplified student visa framework (SSVF) to support Australia’s international education sector. Key changes under the SSVF are: reduction in the number of student visa subclasses from eight to two and the introduction of a single immigration risk framework for all international students.
Subject to the regulatory change process, the SSVF is intended to be implemented from July 2016. The SSVF is designed to make the student visa framework simpler to navigate for genuine students, deliver a more targeted approach to immigration integrity and create a level playing field for education providers.
Under the SSVF, it is intended that all education providers registered with the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students (CRICOS) will be allocated an immigration risk rating between one (lowest risk) and three (highest risk), based on the immigration risk outcomes of their international students over the previous 12-month period. The same approach will also be used to allocate an immigration risk rating to each country. The combined immigration risk outcomes of the student’s education provider and country of citizenship will be used to guide the level of documentary evidence of financial capacity and English language proficiency that the student will need to provide with their visa application.
Thursday, Mar 17, 2016
