Fastrack visas

Student visa arrangements for those impacted by COVID

The Hon Ministers Alan Tudge and Dan Tehan have released a joint media statement outlining the arrangements to be put in place for student visa applicants and student visa holders who have been impacted by the COVID-19 travel restrictions.

The release notes the following:

1.Grants of student visas in all locations lodged outside Australia will recommence, so visa holders will be ready to travel when borders reopen
2.Free VACs for international students who lodge further student visa applications, if they were unable to complete their studies within their original visa validity due to COVID-19
3.Current student visa holders studying online outside Australia due to COVID-19 will be have that study counted towards the Australian study requirement for a post-study work visa
4.Graduates who held a student visa will be eligible to apply for a post-study work visa outside Australia, if they are unable to return due to COVID-19
5.Additional time will be given for applicants to provide English language results where COVID-19 has disrupted access to these services

Note; Some of these measures need legislation to be changed and you should check back regularly for more information at the Government's websites.

https://minister.homeaffairs.gov.au/alantudge/Pages/supporting-international-students-support-australian-jobs.aspx
https://covid19.homeaffairs.gov.au/student-visa

Joint media release - Supporting international students to support Australian jobs The Morrison Government is making a number of changes to student visa arrangements to ensure Australia remains a priority destination for international students as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Department of Home Affairs - System Outage
The Department's systems will be unavailable between 5pm AEST (4.30 ACST; 3pm AWST) Sunday 30th June and 6am AEST Monday 1st July 2019 for maintenance and updates related to 1 July 2019 legislative changes.
https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/news-media/archive/article?itemId=246

News

The Government is increasing the base visa application charge (VAC) for all visa subclasses, with the exception of the Visitor (subclass 600) visa, by 5.4 per cent from 1 July 2019. There will be no increase to second instalment VACs. This measure is estimated to increase revenue by $275.0 million over the period from 2018-19 to 2021-22. Provision for this revenue increase has already been included in the forward estimates.