Uni frustration grows at government student visa delays

Over 10,000 international students are in limbo awaiting visa decisions and have missed their start date for study.

Over 10,000 international students are awaiting their visas to study in Australia after a processing slowdown by the Home Affairs Department.

More than 10,000 international students have missed their start date this year and are sitting in limbo as universities and colleges wait for the Home Affairs Department to process their visas.

Dozens of universities and colleges, each with hundreds of visa applications outstanding, fear the department will raise their visa risk rating in the regular biannual review due this month, which would lead to even slower processing.

Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil issued a directive in ­December ordering student visa processing to be prioritised by risk rating, which favours the universities, mainly in the Group of Eight, whose students are regarded as low visa risk, and penalised mid-tier universities that are more active in recruiting students from India and other subcontinental markets.

Although the department has also increased its refusal rate for visas this year, mid-tier universities are most frustrated by the large number of student visas that have not been processed months after they were lodged.

The delay has forced universities, as well as colleges, to postpone course start dates for thousands of students until the second semester, causing reputational damage in the competitive market and organisational chaos as institutions are forced to change plans and face financial losses.

“All that our beleaguered education institutions want is transparency around when they can expect their large pile of student visas to be processed,” said International Education Association of Australia CEO Phil Honeywood.

“Everyone is aware that the Home Affairs Department has a legal obligation to process every visa application, however unless we have guarantees around faster processing then the viability of high-cost courses and important programs is being put at genuine risk.”

International education peak bodies, representing universities, colleges, TAFEs, English colleges and schools, are due to talk on Wednesday in an emergency meeting to establish a joint position to put to Ms O’Neill to ­“ensure that semester two occurs in a much more transparent and timely manner”, Mr Honeywood said.