Tough new measures to crack down on the abuse of the student visa  program will ensure only genuine international students are accepted to study in Australia, according to the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Chris Evans .

Addressing the American Chamber of Commerce in Perth on 27 April, Senator Evans said the measures would further strengthen the integrity of the student visa program.

The latest measures include changes to the assessment of students studying more than one course, increased powers to cancel visas and streamlining the processing of postgraduate students.

 Students studying more than one course will now be required to meet the highest level of risk assessment within their package of courses.

 ‘This measure will help reduce fraud by ensuring students are not able to select courses they do not intend to complete, simply to receive a more favourable risk assessment level.’

 Changes have also been made to the migration regulations to strengthen the visa cancellation guidelines where a student is found to have deferred or suspended their studies for non-genuine reasons.

The visa requirements for prospective postgraduate students have been streamlined for applicants from all countries, enabling postgraduate research sector applicants to loge applications using the eVisa facility.

In combination, these measures will support a student visa program that facilitates the entry of genuine international students to Australia to study full-time.

Further information is availabe on DIAC’s fact sheet: Student visa program integrity measures 2009–10   

Source:  Department of Immigration and Citizenship