ELICOS THE CURRENT VISA ENVIRONMENT. Richard Marriott Assistant Director, Student Policy

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1 ELICOS THE CURRENT VISA ENVIRONMENT Richard Marriott Assistant Director, Student Policy

2 Legislative/ policy framework Since 2001, student visas have been divided into different subclasses by education sector Student visas are assessed on the basis of an Assessment Level regime, according to passport country of the visa applicant Different evidentiary requirements apply to different Assessment Levels

3 Visa requirements for ELICOS students For Assessment Level 1 (eg, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan western & some central & eastern Europe) - may apply online from anywhere in the world - only need English that satisfies their education provider - must make a declaration that they have access to sufficient funds

4 Visa requirements cont. Assessment Level 2 (eg, Hong Kong, Korea, Thailand) A level of English required by the provider If not sponsored, must show evidence of funds for 12 months (or length of course if shorter) from an acceptable source (anything but property) Educational qualifications required by provider

5 Visa requirements cont. Assessment Level 3 (Bangladesh, India, Indonesia) As for AL2, but must show evidence of financial capacity for 24 months or length of course if less and that those funds are from an acceptable source, have been held for 3 months and that the person providing it had commensurate income 50 weeks maximum ELICOS

6 Visa requirements - final Assessment Level 4 (China, Cambodia, Pakistan, Lebanon, Vietnam) Must complete IELTS test & achieve score of 5.0 or be fully funded with English to satisfy provider or be in Australia as a student and completed a Senior Secondary Certificate of Education within last 2 years or studied towards an AQFIV or achieved the required score in a gazetted English test. Evidence of financial capacity as for AL3 but for 36 months and funds held for 6 months by acceptable source and person providing funds must have that level of income No more than 40 weeks ELICOS, has qualifications required by provider and have career relevance

7 Visa Trends ELICOS visa grants continue to show slow growth: - 22,368 in 2003/04 up 1.83% on 2002/03-17,294 grants to end March 2005 (indicative data) a decline of 2% over same period in Approval rate of 96% in ELICOS sector this FY Main source countries: - Korea, Japan, Brazil, Thailand, Taiwan No data on ELICOS packaged with other courses, but 41% growth in H.E. sector. (Small decline -1% - in VET sector)

8 Visa Trends Some decline in a number of traditional markets - availability of English courses at home - increased costs of study in Australia Visitor visa grants 3% increase (Feb data) Two new WHM arrangements Belgium & Taiwan. 13% increase in WHM grants to end Feb and regional WHM initiative Trade skills training visa allows for nationals to come to Australia to do apprenticeships in a traditional trade, then on successful completion apply for residence many may seek English training.

9 Recent Visa Changes Assessment Level Changes - commenced 1 April lower assessment levels for 18 countries - AL2 most Latin American countries, Israel, Macau - AL1 Poland, Estonia, Bahamas, Barbados

10 Student evisa Leads to streamlined visa processing and reduced processing times. 87% of Assessment Level 1 students now using evisa Trial evisa access for students from China, India and Thailand nearly 3000 cases lodged so far, with complete applications now taking only 2 weeks if health clear. 138 agents currently involved under access agreements. To be progressively expanded to other countries

11 Visa compliance ELICOS cancellations 256 in Feb 2004, 221 in Feb This is a drop of 13%. ELICOS sector accounted for around 4% of total cancellations in both 2004 & 2005 (Feb data). Slight drop (4%) in PV applications in ELICOS sector representing 16% of total PV applications from students in period. 14% fall in ELICOS unlawful numbers to Mar ELICOS sector accounted for 8.5% of total unlawfuls in period.

12 Other Visa Enhancements Online access to longer stay visitor visas visitors who stay longer may wish to do some short-term English Financial assessment exploring option of allowing students to place funds in an Australian bank and be paid it monthly. This is good both from a welfare and processing perspective

13 Proposals raised in ELICOS sector IELTS requirement for sub class 570 AL4 IELTS requirements for AL3/4 preliminary English 572, 573, 574. Initial student Visa onshore for AL2-4 No Further Stay condition Packaging arrangements students applying for visa applicable to principal course

14 Contacts for help with student policy htm - information for education providers - visa step-by-step guide for students