The report mentions the case of a Chinese student who received an offer to undertake a PhD scholarship at Curtin University in Perth. He did not expect that two years later, he would still be in limbo, waiting for his visa to be approved
A news report from sbs.com.au points out that hundreds of international PhD students from India, Iran, China and Pakistan have been waiting for as long as three years to have their Australian visas approved despite having university offers.
The report mentions the case of a Chinese student who received an offer to undertake a PhD scholarship at Curtin University in Perth. He did not expect that two years later, he would still be in limbo, waiting for his visa to be approved.
His situation is not unique, the report stated. He has connected with other Chinese students in the same position as him through a WeChat group with more than 300 members. An internal poll conducted by the group found 20 per cent of students in the group have been waiting longer than a year.
“Applications will be examined on a risk basis – where there is a risk to intellectual property or to critical technology there should be an expectation that the Australian government would take that risk seriously and assess it.”
— John Coyne, from Australian Strategic Policy Institute
SBS News pointed out that at least 50 Iranian students with PhD scholarship offers have also been waiting more than a year. Data from the Department of Home Affairs website shows half of all postgraduate research students receive their Australian student visas (subclass 500 under the postgraduate research sector stream) within four months.
The website also stated that in December 2022, the median processing time for applications where the student is outside Australia was 16 days. But one in 10 applications takes longer than a year.
Vicki Thomson, the Chief Executive Officer of Australia’s Group of Eight Universities said it was “not acceptable for some students to be awaiting a decision, in some cases for longer than one year”. She was quoted saying: “Whatever the final determination is, it should be communicated as swiftly as possible.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Home Affairs said the federal government “recognises the important role played by the postgraduate research sector in uplifting Australia’s reputation as a high-quality destination for innovative research within the international education sector; and consequently, influencing Australia’s economic prosperity”.
They said almost 10,800 postgraduate research visas were granted between 1 July 2022 and 28 February 2023 and that the largest number of visas granted went to applicants from China.
India placed third, Pakistan eighth and Iran ninth.
The report said security checks could delay the process. “Applications will be examined on a risk basis – where there is a risk to intellectual property or to critical technology there should be an expectation that the Australian government would take that risk seriously and assess it,” John Coyne from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) said.
ASPI is an independent defence and strategic policy think tank that receives funding from the Australian and overseas governments. “But any visa system must be able to process visas quickly if Australia is going to compete for the best and brightest in the world,” Coyne added.
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