Highlights
- The number of student visa applications approved by the Australian Department of Home Affairs continues to decline.
- Housing in several Australian cities among the most unaffordable in the world, according to a new report.
- The fee for international students to apply to study in Australia has risen to $1,600 from $710 this financial year.
“The agency said it would be super-easy, that they would help me with housing when I arrived and that I would just take a barista course and everything would be fine,” she told SBS Portuguese.
But when I arrived here, I realised that international student agencies are more interested in selling their services, than in providing accurate information.
Amanda Marques
Now she said she was prepared to give up her “Australian dream”, amid new government migration policies and the rising cost of living.
More than 35 per cent of student visa applications from July 2023 to May 2024 were denied, up from 3 per cent in 2022-2023. Source: Getty / Getty Images/urbazon
Data from the Department of Home Affairs shows that 441,613 student visas were lodged from July 2023 to May 2024, with 289,509 granted.
More than 35 per cent of student visa applications from this period were denied, up from 3 per cent in 2022-2023.
Most people I know are in this situation, struggling to survive with the high cost of living and, at the same time, worried about renewing their visa with these new migration policies.
Amanda Marques
Marques said the agency suggested she appeal the decision, but she began to question the process.
The agency was requesting a lot of money to carry out the appeal.
Amanda Marques
“I started to question whether this whole process was worth it for a student visa in a field I didn’t want to pursue. So, I decided to return to Brazil,” she said.
Narrowing the doors for international students
The cost for overseas students to apply to study in Australia more than doubled, from $710 to $1,600.
International education is one of Australia’s largest export industries and was worth $36.4 billion to the economy in the 2022-23 financial year.
International student visa fees are now about 10 times higher than countries such as the US and Canada.
Based on her experience, Marques warned against the idea of “doing anything to get a visa”, which she said may lead people to engage in dubious practices.
There were even groups created by agencies encouraging people to take courses unrelated to their career, promising an easy path to residency.
Amanda Marques
“People need to distinguish what is right from what is wrong, instead of simply following what everyone is doing,” Marques said.
Cost of living and reduced opportunities
The report uses what it calls the median multiple — a ratio between median incomes and average house prices — to assign a numerical value to a city’s unaffordability.
The most unaffordable cities by median multiple. Source: SBS
Sydney came second in the ranking of the most expensive cities in which to live in the world, with an average housing price of $1.3 million.
Other Australian cities on the list are Melbourne in 9th, Adelaide in 14th and Brisbane in 15th. Perth came in 50th place.
Gabriela Bertotti, who came to Melbourne to study English, also decided to return to Brazil due to the high costs of living in Australia and bureaucracy associated with a nursing course.
International student Gabriela Bertotti decided to leave Australia. Credit: Supplied
“In addition to the very high prices for university education, which are three times more expensive for international students than for nationals, people who had studied nursing in Brazil, the United States, even in Europe, who were taking the tests requested by universities or applying for visas, they are being turned down too,” she said.
He said students choosing to pursue courses with a “lower academic standard” than they already had in their country of origin, often due to prohibitive study costs, was leading to higher visa rejection rates.
Claudio Garzini is a registered migration agent with over 10 years of experience. Credit: Supplied
“Applicants with a bachelor’s degree are expected to pursue higher qualifications, but many pursue lower-level courses, which is seen as an attempt to remain in Australia without a clear qualification purpose in their careers,” he said.
Universities oppose proposed international students cap
“The current political approach to international education is anything but cohesive — it is political chaos,” Sheehy said.
Some say the government’s proposed cap on international student intake will cause cuts to research funding and the loss of up to 4,500 jobs at universities. Source: Press Association
“The latest crackdown aims to defuse an electoral battle over the argument that migration is the cause of the housing crisis.”