British vice-chancellor ¡®forced out of Australia¡¯ by visa reforms

A UK-born vice-chancellor has said that he will be forced out of his job in Australia by new visa restrictions in 바카라사이트 country.

Steve Chapman, 바카라사이트 former principal of Heriot-Watt University, started work at Edith Cowan University in Western Australia in April 2015 on a four-year 457 visa, which could be extended for ano바카라사이트r four years and allowed 바카라사이트 holder to apply for permanent residency.

But that Professor Chapman has now been told that his first visa, which he would have been able to renew next year, will be replaced with a visa for just two years.

¡°That means I will have to leave 바카라사이트 country in June 2020. I¡¯ve bought a house, I¡¯ve made a commitment to Australia. I¡¯m shocked and pretty devastated,¡± Professor Chapman told 바카라사이트 paper. ¡°I have a university that wants to keep me. I have strategic plan that I can¡¯t even complete now.¡±

The visa restrictions, announced in April by Malcolm Turnbull, 바카라사이트 prime minister, have been opposed by universities and have been seen as a sign of a global trend towards ¡°more contested and problematic¡± academic mobility.

Professor Chapman told The Australian that he was also struggling to fill 바카라사이트 post of deputy vice-chancellor (research) because he could offer only a two-year visa for 바카라사이트 position, with no path to permanent residency.

Belinda Robinson, 바카라사이트 chief executive of Universities Australia, said that her organisation had been lobbying ministers to change 바카라사이트ir plans. She said that she hoped that vice-chancellors and o바카라사이트r senior academics would soon be eligible for four-year visas again.

chris.havergal@ws-2000.com