AusAID Students
March 1, 1999
New visa requirements affect current and former AusAID Students who are seeking certain further temporary or permanent visas.
The requirements are intended to encourage AusAID students to return home to put skills and knowledge gained in Australia to use in their home countries.
If a student has not been outside Australia for two years or more since ceasing his or her AusAID approved course, the support of the AusAID Minister is required for grant of the further visa. This requirement may be waived by the Immigration Minister in certain circumstances.
An “AusAID recipient” is a person who holds a Subclass 560 or 562 visa (or equivalent former visa) granted because the person was a student studying with the assistance of AusAID (or whose last substantive visa was such a visa), who has ceased their visa-related course (or its approved substitute) and has not spent at least 2 years outside Australia since ceasing that course.
An “AusAID student” is a person who has AusAID’s approval to study in Australia under an approved scholarship scheme / training program, and who is either
- the holder of a Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visa (or equivalent former visa) granted because of that approval and has not ceased their visa-related course (or its approved substitute); or
- an applicant for such a visa.
Item 1222 of Schedule 1 to the migration regulations is amended to include persons seeking a visa to study in an AusAID approved course, and their families, as persons who are not subject to a first instalment of the visa application charge when applying for a Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visa.
Item 5010 of Schedule 5 (Special Return Criteria) been repealed and substiuted with a new Item 5010. The new criterion applies to persons who hold an AusAID student visa or whose last substantive visa was an AusAID student visa. To meet the criterion these persons must:
- have been studying an AusAID approved course of less than 12 months’ duration; or
- have ceased studying such a course and have been outside Australia for 2 years; or
- the AusAID Minister must support the grant of the visa for which the person has applied; or
- the Immigration Minister must waive the requirement to obtain the support of the AusAID Minister
The new Item 5010 also removes obsolete references to subsidised courses.nds the Schedule 2 criteria for range of visa subclasses (listed below) to make it a primary and secondary criterion for the grant of the visa (as applicable) to an AusAID recipient or an AusAID student that the applicant have the support of the AusAID Minister.
The amendments also provide (in respect of most of the affected visa Subclasses) that the Immigration Minister may waive this requirement if satisfied that, in the particular case, waiver is justified by compelling circumstances that affect the interests of Australia, or by compassionate or compelling circumstances that affect the interests of an Austalian citizen/permanent resident or an eligible NZ citizen. However, no waiver is possible in respect of:
- AusAID students or AusAID applicants applying as primary applicants for a subclass 560 visa or 562 visa;
- members of the family unit of AusAID students applying as secondary applicants for a subclass 560 visa; or
- members of the family unit of AusAID students applying for a subclass 563 visa
