Immigration cancels 11,000 visas of non-genuine students
Immigration authorities have cancelled almost 11,000 visas of non-genuine students in the year ending June, an increase of more than a third compared with the previous corresponding period.
Phil Honeywood, chief executive of the International Education Association of Australia, said the present system allowed low-quality education providers to misuse the visa streamlining scheme.
“A key reason for ditching the current streamlined visa procedures is that too many low-quality education providers have been gaming the system, and this has meant students have been attracted to enrolling in such providers as an easy visa pathway to Australia,” Mr Honeywood said.
The most recent high-profile case of a college misusing student visas was early last month, when authorities raided the offices of one provider, accusing three Melbourne men of falsely enrolling international students, creating fraudulent documents and not providing appropriate education.
Instead, it is alleged international students were working as contractors for a labour hire business owned by the men, while continuing to pay high tuition fees to maintain their enrolment status and student visas.
Education Minister Christopher Pyne also has moved to push out unscrupulous education agents, announcing a code of ethics and a feasibility study into an industry-led quality framework for agents.
“The quality of the educational services that Australia offers to the rest of the world is an asset that we should protect and enhance,” Mr Pyne said.
“International education is Australia’s fourth largest export industry overall and our largest services export ahead of tourism, so maintaining our strong reputation for quality is important.”
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