The Bhutanese Leading the way.
In the latest move to tighten rules around students visas the Australian Government announced more changes to the Temporary Graduate visa programs or 485 visa which will take effect from 1st July 2024.
The first big change is that from 1st July onwards students graduating from vocational, diploma, bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees will no longer get the Temporary Graduate Visa or 485 to continue working there if you are above 35 years of age.
Though details are not yet given it is expected that students who applied and joined Australian educational institutes before 1st July 2024 should still get their Temporary Graduate Visas irrespective of their age at graduation, but students who join from 1st July 2024 onwards will have to watch their age as this change will definitely apply on them.
Chairperson of the Association of Bhutanese Education Consultancies (ABEC), Palden Tshering, said here is no literature and details yet spelling this out, but it can be assumed given that the Australian government never enacts changes retroactively when it comes to student visas.
So, if there are older Bhutanese students already in their course they need not worry as of now.
However, in the longer run once these 35+ plus Bhutanese finish their 485 visa period they can still apply for masters and other programs but they will no longer get the 485 visa to work after graduation.
Another change announced is that students after graduate will no longer receive the 2-year extension in select courses.
This means that Bachelor degree (including honours) and Masters (coursework and extended) can work up to 2 years and Masters (research) and doctoral degree (PhD) will get up to 3 years.
The changes will come into effect from 1st July 2024 after the passage of legislative amendments.
Earlier some Bhutanese consultancies had given hope that the 35+ age limit was just a proposal and may not be imposed but this is not true as it will be implemented.
Palden Tshering said that Australian government has announced it and it will become a reality from 1st July 2024.
Palden said the important thing to understand is that after 1st July 2024 older Bhutanese can still go and study but the change is that they will not get a 485 visa after graduation if they are 35+ and so they will have to come back.
He said the advice for future older Bhutanese students is that if students want to genuinely update their qualification they should continue but not so for students who plan to stay on. He said if student don’t meet the occupational lists in Australia they should be expected to be sent back.
Palden at the same time said that Bhutanese are very resilient and very adaptable because 17 to 18 years ago Bhutanese found Australia very expensive but now large numbers are living there as they have adapted.
He said people will adapt and take certain courses and one can never say if this will change in the future with new policies and governments.
He said this latest change is just part of a series of changes to filter out applicants and get better quality students.
He said that already applicants to Australian educational institutes with Assessment Level one are getting priority compared to Assessment Level two and three.
Palden said the next change coming soon is that consultancies in Australia taking on shore commissions by getting students to change their colleges after reaching there will not be allowed and secondly people going on tourist visas and then applying for student visas on reaching there will also not be allowed.
When one looks at the visa grant data there are a total of 10,748 Bhutanese at the age of 30+ who have got student visas in the last three financial years with 1,251 in July 2021 to June 2022, 6,234 in July 2022 to June 2023 and 3,263 from July 2023 to March 2024.
