Australian PM announces A$630 visa rebate for international students

Here’s some welcome Australia visa application news for international students: Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that from today, international students who arrive in Australia will have their visa rebated at a cost of 630 Australian dollars per student.

Local reports say the country will rebate visa application fees for students and backpackers for at least the next three months as the country works to fill critical workplace shortages created by COVID-19. 

Morrison previously announced that the federal government will remove the 40-hour-a-fortnight cap on student visa-holder workers, which would mean international students will no longer have restrictions on the amount of hours they can work.

The visa rebate initiative will be in place for the next eight weeks and will be organised via the Department of Home Affairs, reported 9News.

International students returning to Australia will have to be fully vaccinated. Source: Sonny Tumbelaka/AFP

Australia visa application rebate to woo students  

Morrison hopes that the Australia visa application rebate will inspire international students to return to the country. There are approximately 150,000 students currently overseas who have an approved visa to come and study in Australia. 

International students returning to the country will have to be fully vaccinated. Morrison said they will face the same quarantine arrangements that are enforced and required by each state. The Australia visa application rebate is part of an initiative to encourage students to return for the start of the university year as a “thank you for choosing Australia.”

“But we also want them to come here and to be filling some of these critical workforce shortages, particularly those who are working and being trained in health care, aged care, those types of sectors, that will be incredibly helpful,” Morrison was quoted saying.

The Australian government will also give A$3 million to Tourism Australia for a marketing campaign targeting backpackers and students. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the visa rebate scheme is expected to cost A$55 million.