The federal government will increase the amount of savings international students will need in order to get a student visa to ensure they can support themselves and are not in urgent need of employment.
International students will need $24,505 in savings from 1 October 2023, a 17 per cent increase.
The amount had not been indexed since 2019, with the hike acting as a catch-up.
The government has also closed a loophole that allows providers to shift international students who have been in Australia for less than six months from study to an arrangement that allows them to access work.
The use of the concurrent study function spiked in the first half of 2023 to 17,000, up from about 10,500 for the same period in 2019 and 2022 combined.
Published 26 August 2023 11:59am
Source: SBS News
