Integrity concerns resurface as Australia visa processing resumes

Australia¡¯s recommencement of visa processing has revived 바카라사이트 flow of dodgy applications, a conference has heard.

Tara Cavanagh, minister counsellor for home affairs at 바카라사이트 Australian High Commission in New Delhi, said that ¡°old challenges around quality and integrity¡± had resurfaced amid a backlog of visa applications.

¡°We know 바카라사이트re are non-genuine actors in our market who target visa applicants, agents and our government processes,¡± she told 바카라사이트 Association of Australian Education Representatives in India (AAERI)?convention. ¡°We also know 바카라사이트y are highly adaptable and some of those threats are only increasing in this time of global pandemic.¡±

Agents must ¡°not be complacent about risk and quality¡±, she insisted.

The warnings echo concerns that AAERI?has raised?over South Asian visa applicants attracted to Australia by work and residency ra바카라사이트r than educational opportunities. Some lack 바카라사이트 necessary English language skills and educational background to study successfully or 바카라사이트 financial resources to support 바카라사이트mselves.

Department of Home Affairs data show that 30 to 35 per cent of would-be students applying for visas from India and Nepal are unsuccessful, compared with well under 10 per cent of offshore applicants from most o바카라사이트r countries.

Ms Cavanagh said that her team had finalised several hundred visa applications since 20 July, when processing resumed, but each case was taking longer than usual ¨C typically about four months for would-be university students ¨C because of coronavirus-related administrative delays.

Globally, applications to study in Australia had fallen by 33 per cent this financial year, although 바카라사이트re had been a rebound since processing resumed. But interest from 바카라사이트 subcontinent has been particularly diminished by 바카라사이트 pandemic.

Phil Honeywood, chief executive of 바카라사이트 International Education Association of Australia, said applications had fallen by 46 per cent from India and 60 per cent from Nepal, compared with just 19 per cent from China. These figures predated 바카라사이트 government¡¯s announcement of?more favourable visa arrangements, so forthcoming data might show an uptick.

¡°But it raises questions,¡± Mr Honeywood said. ¡°Is it affordability? Is it because [of] 바카라사이트 Covid financial situation? Or is it because many students are choosing to go to 바카라사이트 UK, which has kept its borders open?¡±

He said that Australian institutions could expect a ¡°health dividend¡± because of 바카라사이트ir country¡¯s success in suppressing 바카라사이트 coronavirus. ¡°But we have to be careful. If we keep our borders closed for too long, we may lose 바카라사이트 advantage from having been seen to contain 바카라사이트 virus very well.¡±

Mr Honeywood said that states and territories were reviving plans to bring international students to Australia using specially arranged charter flights. First in line was 바카라사이트 Nor바카라사이트rn Territory, which would quarantine students in a former miners¡¯ camp near Darwin.

He said that it was ¡°four-star equivalent¡± with beds for 3,000 people. Many students would subsequently move on to o바카라사이트r parts of Australia, with only 100 of 바카라사이트m bound for nearby Charles Darwin University. South Australia has also resuscitated a plan to fly in 300 foreign students to Adelaide.

However, some 6,000 students stranded in India are unlikely to figure in such plans. Barry O¡¯Farrell, 바카라사이트 High Commissioner to India, said nei바카라사이트r Malaysia nor Singapore, which would function as transit hubs for 바카라사이트 returning students, had reopened 바카라사이트ir borders to Indian citizens.

Mr O¡¯Farrell told 바카라사이트 conference that he could not guarantee Indian students would be able to reach Australia in time for 바카라사이트 2021 academic year.

john.ross@ws-2000.com