New Zealand adds incentives for international students

Immigration New Zealand (INZ) announced on November 19 that it has updated its visa policy for international students graduating with a master's degree. Specifically, to apply for a post-study work visa (PSW), international students with a postgraduate diploma (PGDip) must have previously enrolled in a master's program of 30 weeks or more. However, this limit has just been removed, and international students in this category are allowed to apply for a PSW regardless of the duration of the master's course.

This means that international students can now study a shorter master's degree without worrying about losing the opportunity to work in New Zealand. "This gives international students the freedom to choose their course and the peace of mind that they will still be eligible to work after graduation," INZ said in an official statement.

However, this only applies to those who continue to study for a master's degree immediately after obtaining a PGDip. INZ also notes that the duration of an applicant's PSW will depend on the length of the master's course and those who wish to stay in New Zealand to work for 3 years must study a full-time master's programme for at least 30 weeks.

In addition, in the announcement, the New Zealand government also updated the list of eligible fields of study for PSW. Accordingly, secondary school teachers now do not need to have a bachelor's degree in science, mathematics, technology or Pacific languages ​​to apply for PSW. If teaching primary or secondary schools, candidates now only need to submit a master's degree in education and meet the requirements of the New Zealand Teaching Council to apply for PSW.

The list also adds a new mechanical technician job, available to candidates with a New Zealand engineering level 6 qualification in mechanical engineering.

Previously, in June, the New Zealand government expanded the conditions for granting work visas to the spouses of some international students. Specifically, the spouses of students studying level 7 (bachelor's) and level 8 (postgraduate, pre-master's) programs in fields on the labor shortage list can apply for a work visa with open conditions (partner of a student work visa).

In addition, children of secondary school age (if any) can apply for a dependent child student visa to enjoy the same benefits as local students, i.e. not having to pay tuition fees.

Australia's enrolment cap bill faces opposition

Another move that has received attention from the international education sector is that the bill to cap foreign student enrolment proposed by the Australian government is likely to be scrapped, instead of being expected to be implemented from early 2025. That is because the coalition of the Liberal, National (Coalition) and Greens parties in Australia on November 18 spoke out against the bill proposed by the Labor government, citing concerns about the economic and social impacts it could cause.

With opposition from the Coalition, the Greens and independents, the bill’s chances of passing in the upcoming Senate sitting have been significantly reduced, The PIE News reports. However, Australian Education Minister Jason Clare has made it clear that if the bill fails to pass, Directive 107 will remain in place. This is a provision that prioritizes the processing of student visa applications based on the reputation of the educational institution where the student is enrolled.

This has raised immediate concerns, as the directive has left universities “heavily impacted” by slower student visa processing and increased student visa refusals. Universities Australia CEO Luke Sheehy has highlighted that an estimated $4 billion has been “drained” from the economy and thousands of university jobs are at risk due to Directive 107.

Another notable move is that before the future of the bill to cap admissions was decided, many universities had already proposed response measures, especially for schools whose enrollment quotas had been reduced by the Australian government compared to the previous year, such as the University of New South Wales and its member school UNSW College, which recently announced that they would temporarily stop accepting applications from international students, or the Australian Catholic University, which in September stopped enrolling international students for 2025.

Previously, speaking to Thanh Nien , many universities such as Macquarie, Australian National University, and New South Wales said that despite having to deal with the ceiling regulations, the schools still maintain their admission policies for Vietnamese people to ensure diversity of nationalities, which is based on academic records and English proficiency. However, representatives of the schools also advise candidates to accept admission as soon as they receive an invitation to avoid risks.

According to the Australian Department of Education, as of August, there were 803,639 international students studying in Australia. Of these, 36,490 were Vietnamese, ranking 5th in the number of international students. In New Zealand, the number of Vietnamese international students coming to this country in 2023 was 1,736, an increase of 10% compared to the previous year and most concentrated in universities (1,120) and high schools (308). However, this number is only a minority compared to the total of 69,135 international students from other countries enrolling in 2023.