Australia likely to stay closed to most international students until 2022

Australia has signalled that the majority of international students will not be able to return until the second half of 2022. 

Since January 2021, of the country’s visa-holding international students have been unable to enter the country and return to university because of Covid-19 border restrictions.

In the government’s federal budget announced last week, it was predicted that borders would remain closed to the majority of international students until the second half of 2022. The budget does mention the introduction of “small phased programmes” to bring in some students from late 2021, but most arrivals will be constrained by strict quarantine caps for the foreseeable future.

There has been movement to allow international students to return soon on a state level, with  by creating a new student quarantine system. The plan suggests students coming into the state should be counted under a separate arrival cap and would therefore not take capped quarantine spaces away from returning Australian citizens.  

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Many have welcomed the initiative, including Phil Honeywood, CEO of the International Education Association of Australia, who that New South Wales “will show other state governments that [the return of international students] can be done safely and in a welcoming manner”.

However, it may be unlikely that this proposal will be accepted. Apart from one small-scale Northern Territory initiative granting entry to 63 international students last November, five similar proposals from other states have since been rejected. It has also been that education agents in China and India are advising prospective international students to consider applying to other countries, where it may be more likely they will be granted entry.

While Australia has mostly been celebrated for the way that it has handled the Covid-19 pandemic, it has also had some of the toughest border restrictions in comparison to the UK, US and Canada and other top study-abroad destinations. 

International students have expressed their dismay at the delayed plans, with more than 10,000 individuals signing a petition started in January 2021 urging the Australian government to grant international students exemptions to their capped entry policy. Progress somewhat relies on whether the New South Wales proposal is approved, but when it comes to large-scale numbers being granted entry, international students may have to wait a while still.