Study Australia: Indian Students and Skilled Migrants Exempt From New Migration Strategy 

The Department of Home Affairs Australia has declared that Indian students as well as skilled migrants will be exempted from the new migration rules. The new migration strategy for students and skilled migrants was declared on the 11th of December 2023. 

The key change under this guideline is the reduction in the duration of the Temporary Graduate Visa (TGV). The post-study work visa is hence reduced for every other national but does not apply to Indian students. 

India and Australia had recently signed a trade agreement due to which Indians were allowed a longer duration of stay in Australia based on the Temporary Graduate Visa. Furthermore, due to the same agreement, Indians are exempted from the change in the duration of their post-study work visa. 

This agreement is the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trader Agreement (ECTA). It came into effect on the 29th of December 2022. The agreement discussed many other terms including student rights. 

Student Visa Rules for Indian Students in Australia

For Indian students in Australia, the post-study work visa after graduation is 2 years, whereas, for master’s by coursework and research, the duration is 3 years. On the other hand, for a PhD, the duration of a post-study work visa for Indians is 4 years. 

For overseas students from other countries, the duration of a post-study work visa for a Master’s is reduced to 2 years from 3 years. Similarly, the duration of PhD post-study work visa is also reduced by a year, making it valid for 3 years instead of 4. 

Is There Any Change for Indian Students in the Visa Process?

Apart from this change, the extension on post-study work visas is also no more allowed. This restriction on extension of post-study work rights is applicable to Indian as well as other international students equally. 

An exception to this is for those students who have studied in a regional area. Therefore, to avail extension, you must be enrolled in a regional university in Australia. 

Moreover, the increase in the level of English proficiency required is also applicable to all. Another universal change in the policy is the replacement of ‘Genuine Temporary Entrant’ with ‘Genuine Student’. 

This implies that student applications will now be assessed differently for admissions. Soon there will be new guidelines to assess the applications. However, this change does not necessarily affect the genuine students. 

This was all about relaxations for Indian students in the new migration rules set by the Australian Department of Home Affairs. If you want to read more such exciting information, make sure you follow Leverage Edu News Updates.