In a written statement to a question asked in Rajya Sabha, the Minister for External Affairs, Mr. S.M. Krishna said that no student has come forth with complaints. About 20 representations have been received from students by the High Commission of India which is situated in Canberra along with the Consulates General in Sydney and Melbourne. These students have been affected due to the closure of colleges. Their representations have been for their fee refunds.

At the same time, alternate placements are being offered to such international students in similar colleges or institutions. Incase, similar placements are not being offered or available or are being accepted, the students have the option of getting their money refunded. Such cases of Indian students in Australia are being addressed with the relevant Australian authorities for the relocation or for the refund of the tuition fee.

However, despite the tuition fee being refunded, many of these students have lost out on a lot. Despite being placed in a similar course in some other institution, it might not be the same. This is especially when they walked into the nation with lots of hopes and aspirations.

Above all, since the DIAC has all the rights to change the rules without any prior notification, it is highly suggested that these students are better prepared for such mishaps which are quite unfortunate. More so, the advice of an immigration consultant dealing with student visas for Australia would give a better insight for students as to how to deal with such a situation.

Melbourne: Reports point their hands in the direction that the Indian student enrollment in Australia has dropped by a huge margin, especially after Australia announced policy change. If figures are to be believed, student applicants from India are avoiding Australia as a prospective destination to study further.

Students from all over the world are gradually shunning away from Australia and biggest drop has been seen in the inflow of students from Indian continent. As far as the study from Herald Sun is concerned, the figures have dropped by a fifth!

In the month of April 2009, 55,000 students from India got their visas. But as far as the figure from the same year was concerned, the figures has shown a massive decrease and reached 10,000. In addition, other facets have also played a huge role in the decrease of the students coming to Australia.

As far as the overall surge in overseas students to Australia is concerned, the population has increased in a major way, courtesy the massive inflow of students in the land of Kangaroos. 430,000 overseas students were recorded to have their presence in Australia in the month of May.

But if we look at the statistics of number if overseas students granted for the purpose of higher education in the initial nine months of 2009-2010, the figures were less than 60,000, the same being more than 70,000 for last year. The data has been confirmed by Immigration Department.

Immigration has certainly become an issue of concern for many countries owing to many reasons such as high level of illegal immigration and heavy flow of immigrants into the country taking away the opportunities from the country citizens. And that is why so many countries are taking various measures to ensure legality in the system and spread awareness amongst the countrymen about immigration policies.

New Zealand‘s Ethnic Affairs Minister Pansy Wong will be  attending  the annual Australian Ministerial Council for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs meeting to be held in Melbourne tomorrow. The participation of New Zealand in this meeting will surely going to strengthen the bilateral relations of the country with Australia. Both the countries will be discussing on various issues in relation to immigration. They will also be sharing their ideas and suggestions on how to support the new migrants and foreign-born citizens.

In a statement to the press, she expressed that she has high expectations from this meeting and really looking forward for it. She further said that New Zealand has made a remarkable progress by providing the necessary help to the native New Zealanders (which also includes new migrants) so that they can give their contribution in the progress of the country. Ms. Wong intends to enlighten Australian counterparts about New Zealand’s progress and achievements and would also like to share some points and ideas which would help them to scale new heights of progress.

Both the countries are facing similar problems regarding various issues on immigration and this meeting is surely going to bring benefits to both the countries as they will be discussing various issues and will also be  sharing  their ideas and suggestions with each other.

July 9 is a big day for certain visa holders, for, on this day Australia celebrates Constitution Day, where new citizens are welcomed or awarded Australian citizenship. This is the day when Queen Victoria gave her royal assent to the Constitution of Australia. Thus, Constitution Day is the occasion when the nation celebrates its creation.

Every year, when 9th of July is celebrated as Constitution Day by the whole nation, the Australian immigration department marks the day as the perfect occasion to welcome new Oz citizens. Today is this especial day where as part of the occasion, many ceremonies are taking place to welcome Australian visa holders as new citizens.

According to a spokesperson for the Australian Immigration Department, the Constitution Day is one of the nation’s most important days. It has also importance because of the fact that on this day the nation welcomes new citizens who are the prospective contributors to the Australian economy and community.

This year, Australia is going to acknowledge a total of 500 new citizens from seventy nations across the globe in a number of ceremonies across Australia. The ceremonies on Constitution Day have been giving new entrants the opportunities to be proud of being Australians and likewise, this year’s ceremonies are going to give the nation’s newest citizens an opportunity to acknowledge their citizenship in one of the most friendly and welcoming nations in the world. Several ceremonies on Constitution Day are going to take place in prominent cities like Sydney, Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Canberra and Brisbane.

Australia has always been a great place to be in. If you are planning to immigrate to the nation, it is advised to seek the professional help of an Immigration and Visa Consultant!

Of late, Melbourne has emerged as the hot favorite destination among tourists who come to the land of Kangaroos. The city has outdone the most popular Australian city. According to the figures released for the 12 months to March this year, by the Tourism Australia, over the last ten years, Melbourne’s interstate visitor numbers plummeted by 22 percent, which made up over 4 million tourists to the city in a year.

On the other hand, Sydney’s tourist numbers went down 15 per cent to make it 3.3 million a year. Even though Melbourne has defeated Sydney with its numbers of tourists, the latter still remains the bigger tourism market, especially when it comes to international tourists.

Last year which ended April 2010, around 5.7 million foreign tourists visited the land of Kangaroos. The figure is an increase of 2 per cent from the previous year. Australia has always emerged a popular tourist destination. The Oz cities like Sydney and Melbourne are some of those cities that attract some of the biggest tourist crowds that visit the nation every year. Australia has an endless numbers of tourist attractions. People across the globe visit the land of Kangaroos for a number of reasons. Apart from tourists, overseas people also find Australia as one of the favorite destinations to immigrate. The nation is in the league with the likes of the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, where majority of the world immigrant population go and settle there.

If you are one of those who have been planning to immigrate to Australia, contact an Immigrant and Visa Consultant!

Overseas education has become the need of today’s rising competition and it gives a wider exposure to students who come from foreign land. It helps the students to become more sensitive and tolerant towards different cultures, make them more independent and mature enough to handle various situations.

In the last few years, Australia has made a special place for itself among those countries that provide overseas education to foreigners. With high level of excellence and quality education along with practical training, it has become the hub for overseas students.

There are many reputed universities in Australia which offer ample exposure to polish one’s skills and talents. Amongst them is the Australian National University (ANU) which is the topmost followed by the University of Sydney and the University of Melbourne which are rated as second and third most popular universities respectively.

ANU has international links with universities in the USA, UK, Europe and Asia and as the only Australian member of the International Alliance of Research Universities (IARU). The IARU is a confederation of ten of the world’s leading research universities. The University is involved in collaborative projects with organizations ranging from NASA to those from the European Union.

ANU is specially known for its courses in the field of research and scientific development. One of its most popular courses is the Bachelors in Computational Science which provides Practical Mathematical and Software Engineering training. Those intending to make a mark in the field of science and research or engineering, then ANU should fall into the top places of their priority list.

The work culture of Australia is quite student friendly and one can also continue to work part time (to earn their pocket money) along with their studies. There are ample opportunities for students to study and work side by side. One can find jobs on the campus as well as jobs in retail, hospitality and the administration department. With all these benefits of Australian education and beautiful landscape with a glorious climate, Australia is definitely a destination for all.

Incase you are one of those intending to study in Australia and you are not a citizen of the nation, you require a study visa to live and study in the nation. It is best recommended that you consult an Immigration Specialist who deals with Australian immigration. He would be the right person who would be updated with all the latest in this regard.

In a recent occasion, the passport of Julian Assange was seized by Australian police on his arrival at Melbourne last week, reason being his passport was looking worn. Assange is the founder of the Wikileaks, the organization known for publishing submissions and sensitive organizational documents without disclosing the anonymity of the sources. However, he was handed over the document by the immigration officials later when he arrived at the Melbourne airport, Australia.

In the immigration database, the officials recognized Assange’s passport as ‘normal’, reports say. And with a normal passport, a person can travel freely as he wishes. The document worn-out condition made the police obstruct him in Melbourne. Immigration officials sometimes take travelers’ passports for sometimes if they appear to be dull in condition. But, in the Wikileaks founder’s case, they returned the passport about 15 minutes later.

Reportedly, Assange was once obstructed by an Australian Federal Police officer back in the year 1991. The officer then performed a check inside one of his bags and enquired Assange about his criminal record pertaining to computer hacking offences. Later, it was confirmed that the police officer was ordered by the office of Communication Minister to enquire about disclosure of the blacklist of Australian government’s banned websites. According to reports, the case is now dropped!

Julian Assange is an Australian but he does not own a permanent base in his native country. He was caught saying that Australia is one of several countries where he does not feel safe!

Australia is currently facing a nationwide shortage of houses and skyrocketing prices of real estate. The situation is such that many Australians are bound to raise question on the country’s viewpoint on immigration, higher level of immigration being one of the main reasons for the situation.

The latest government figures show that Australia’s population increased by 2.1 percent in the year that ended last June 30. And this figure is twice the figure of any other industrialized countries in the world. As per the reports, new immigrants contributed two-third of the growth. No doubt, the over influx of immigrants is being held the major reason for many of the problems, such as rising prices of real estate; traffic congestion; overburdened public health system and water shortages. It is noteworthy that Australia’s current population is about 22 million.

House prices in the nation have risen over 20 percent, as compared to the prices of last year. Now, the median price of a home in Australia is near about $450,000. Sydney and Melbourne are the two cities where home prices are double the amount.

After the inception of generous immigration quotas and tax incentives in order to boost the birth rate in Australia has triggered the population growth since the succeeding year of World War II. According to the Oz government’s estimates, the nation’s population would reach 36 million by 2050, while many others have to say that with the current pace of population growth, it would reach closer to 50 million by 2050. A few political parties expressed their views of stabilizing the nation’s population at 23 million by 2050, by cutting down the immigration intake, as well cutting domestic subsidies that encourage higher birth rates.

The Australian city of Sydney may not stand as the country’s largest city in terms of population in the coming times. According to a recent study, another popular Australian city, Melbourne may replace Sydney. As reported by BIS Shrapnel, Sydney’s inability to provide affordable housing may cause the city to miss its state government’s forecast of 1.1 percent population growth for 2015 to 2020.

According to the head of the property development group, Urban Taskforce (which published the research) Melbourne will probably outcast Sydney as the country’s largest city in 2037 with its long-term population growth of 1.3 percent per year. The study stated that Sydney housed 660,000 more people than Melbourne in 2001. But, over eight years the figure decreased to 500,000 towards the mid of the 2009. This makes clear that the difference between the two cities in population aspect has been diminishing rapidly.

The study also found that as compared to Sydney, Melbourne has been able to accommodate extra population over the last few years. As a matter of fact, both the cities have been the most populated parts of Australia, where Sydney houses 4.4 million people and Melbourne is home to 3.9 million people. The city of Brisbane comes at the third slot with 1.9 million inhabitants.

Sydney’s house prices have started to rise towards the late 1990s and it still continues to soar. When the city is unable to provide adequate housing facility, the number of immigrants to the city would also decrease. Thus, a city should consider that alongside providing jobs, housing can also offer it the opportunity to attract and house immigrants who can contribute to its economy!

The sixty asylum seekers at the Christmas Island included Iraqis who were shifted to the Villawood Detention Centre in Sydney. These asylum seekers would found as a boat crew which also has many small children.

These Iraqi men made an attempt to protest on the North West Point detention centre which is at the remote of the Christmas Island. These men are among those thirty four people on the pathway to be removed and thus have been sent to Villawood. They have been told that the Australian Immigration Department does not owe any form of protection for these people.

It was noticed that inspite of their constant protects, these men did not seem to be angry. Some of them were found to be rejoicing at the thought of reconciling with their other asylum mates.

According to the Coordinator of the Refugee and Immigration Legal Centre in Melbourne, David Manne, it would not be right for the government to state that these men are on the pathway to be removed or rather “Removal Pathway” before their situation has been evaluated in the court.

It has to be realized that all refugees at the Christmas Island are within rights to compete for a prior decision brought out by the department in a merit review that is independent. This process is non – statutory in nature which is aimed to reflect the Refugee Review Tribunal.

As per Manne, a minimum of a third of the entire refugees are found to attain success on these Refugee Review Tribunal.

Thus, appropriate words to be used are a must since it is their future which is at stake.