Recent Changes in the Australian Student Visa Criteria

Australia is a country which has attracted Indians for a very long time and is still doing that. Every year hundreds of Indian students attempt to go to Australia to pursue their education and many of them succeed too. It promises better and brighter future and exposure to many things including a better lifestyle. Seeing people do this, many more get allured by this leading to huge number of youngsters applying for the Australian Student Visa.

The Australian government is a very supportive of the genuine students who come to their country to study and wants to ensure that they get the best in their nation. Due to this, they have made some changes in the student visa criteria so that only the deserving candidates enter their country. The Genuine Temporary Entrant (GTE) criteria is now replaced by the Genuine Student (GS) requirement for all the applications submitted on or after 23rd March 2024. This was declared on 18th March 2024 by the Department of Home Affairs. It is expected to help streamlining the process, making it more transparent and trustworthy.

Let’s learn the difference between GTE and GS:

 

GTE (Genuine Temporary Entrant): In this assessment, the officials evaluate how genuine are the intentions of the student who plans to live in Australia temporarily to study. They do this by checking the applicant’s family background, personal situations, reasons behind choosing Australia, future potential of the course they plan to pursue, old travel history if any and much more. Through all these information it is judged if the student is worthy of Australian student visa or not. This was implemented and was used earlier but it was observed that it lacked in some areas as it gave a general idea about all the aspects in question and to address those, there was a need to have a system in place which is better. Hence, the GS requirement came into existence.

GS (Genuine Student):On contrary to GTE, the GS requirement assessment is more objective. It involves specific questions related to all the aspects to know the genuineness of the applicant, for example; asking questions pertaining to their aspirations & goals, circumstances, reasons for deciding to study in Australia, choice of course and the potential benefits in future due to that etcetera. As these questions are very particular, their answers give a clearer picture to the officials about the candidate so that they can allow only the deserving ones to enter Australia. This test is designed to ensure that the detailed and accurate details are obtained from the aspirants. The questions asked are very specific and need to be answered in a clear manner eliminating any ambiguity.

What needs to be done in GS?

You are supposed to answer the GS questions asked in the application form in minimum 150 words in English language. You must attach the supportive documents as per the answers. These questions would include the following:

  • Personal circumstances: You need to explain personal circumstances like bonding with family & society, economic condition, any employment and other relevant information.
  • Reasons for opting a certain course and university in Australia along with choosing Australia for education.
  • The future intentions of utilizing the education acquired in Australia for establishing themselves in the professional life.
  • Apart rom the above, any other detail which is relevant and important to be included must be written.
  • The applicants who were student visa earlier will have additional questions as well.

Exceptions: The above change is for all applicants except the Student Guardian – Subclass 590 visa applications as for them GTE is still applicable and will remain applicable. These applicants are basically the ones accompanying the student visa holders who need someone to be with them to take care of them which could be their parents, relatives or guardians who are authorized by the person who has the student’s legal custody. This visa is a Guardian Visa which is applicable for the duration of the course of the dependent student visa holder. A guardian visa holder cannot get employed while staying in Australia but can attend English classes or other course for less than 3 month’s duration. This ensures that you take care of the student you are accompanying.

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