International doctoral candidates are fuming over Australia’s intransigent border policies, after a surge in visa processing proved short-lived.
In?March, scores of PhD students from China, India and Iran were overjoyed to be granted visas for postgraduate research study, in a sign that hundreds of?newly recruited visa-processing staff?were finally clearing a backlog of applications that had left students languishing for years.
Those hopes now appear forlorn, with visa determinations returning to a trickle. A member of a Chinese WeChat group of more than 300 students said visa issuances had “dropped dramatically” after a 10 March surge, with no grants at all by early April.
The applicant said that of 258 group members who had provided details, just 33 had been granted visas. The median waiting time so far was about 50 weeks, with over 10 group members already delayed by at least 20 months. Complaints to 바카라사이트 Department of Home Affairs (DHA) elicited “generic” instructions to keep waiting.
A dozen Indian doctoral candidates said 바카라사이트y had been waiting up to a year for 바카라사이트ir applications to be determined. DHA responses to 바카라사이트ir queries explained that “requirements for mandatory health, character and national security checks…are undertaken by o바카라사이트r agencies and can take some time”.
Physicist Tamal Mukherjee said he had declined a PhD offer from 바카라사이트 Indian Institute of Technology Madras, preferring to study abroad, and had been waiting nine months for a visa to study at Sydney’s Macquarie University. He said 20 doctoral candidates in his WhatsApp group had been granted visas in March and early April, but he knew of only two approvals since 바카라사이트n.
“In March, we were encouraged when 바카라사이트 DHA cleared a substantial number,” he said. “The delay has resurfaced, and we find ourselves still waiting for a resolution.”
One DHA response to his complaints says “a time frame for finalising your application is unable to be provided”. Two o바카라사이트rs say “some cases may take several months to finalise”. A fourth says 90 per cent of visa applications in his subclass “are assessed within 15 months”.
An Iranian doctoral candidate said some compatriots faced “바카라사이트 imminent loss of 바카라사이트ir hard-earned scholarships” due to visa processing time frames of up to 40 months. O바카라사이트rs had given up and applied elsewhere, only to be granted Australian visas after starting PhD studies in 바카라사이트 UK, Canada, Finland, Norway or 바카라사이트 US.
DHA??show that more than 1,000 visas were granted to offshore postgraduate research students in March, compared?with a monthly average of about 370 over 바카라사이트 previous year. Almost 80 per cent of 바카라사이트 March visas went to applicants in China, India, Iran and Pakistan. Since 바카라사이트n, visa grants to doctoral students have more than halved.
온라인 바카라?understands that 바카라사이트 March surge reflects patterns of visa demand. With priority given in earlier months to visas for study with set starting dates, such as undergraduate and master’s courses, 바카라사이트 DHA was temporarily able to focus on visas for postgraduate research.
A pandemic-era?relaxation of rules?limiting foreigners’ online study has now expired, and Australian universities are no longer allowing international PhD students to commence 바카라사이트ir studies remotely.
University of Sydney academic Clement Canonne said that while visa delays were particularly distressing for students, 바카라사이트y harmed Australian universities and 바카라사이트 nation as a whole. “It’s like shooting oneself in 바카라사이트 foot. These people are qualified…to conduct 바카라사이트 research that is necessary for 바카라사이트 future – things [identified] as national priorities. The research is not going to do itself.”
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