Australia after reportingits first cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant closed itsinternational border by two weeks from December 1, 2021, onwards.
International studentsremained in uncertainty after Australia delayed the border reopening plan due to the Omicron variant. About 200,000 workers and students were expected to travel to Australia from December onwards, but the travel restrictions imposed by the Australiangovernment ruined their expectations.
When will the Australianborder reopen for foreign students and skilled workers?
Australian Health MinisterGreg Hunt confirmed that thedelayed border reopening for students and skilled labour would go ahead on 15December, as announced on November 29.
From December 15, students and skilled workers will be able to return to Australia without needing to apply for a travelexemption.
The Australian government tookthis step keeping in mind their dependency on foreign students andskilled workers. Due to thisunexpected delay, many people felt devastated, especially those who were ontemporary visas.
India is the second-largestsource of foreign students in Australia, after China. More than US $6.6billion have been contributed by Indian students to the Australian economy. Australiaused to be the favoured destination for students from Punjab a few yearsback. Now, they prefer to go to Canada and reside there. More than one lakhstudents used to fly every year to Australia from India, mainly from Punjab.
Their difficulties do not cometo an end here. Many Australian universities have raised their fees. Peoplewere already suffering due to financial problems caused by corona. Now, thisfee raise has become another obstacle in the path of the students.
Ms. Jaspreet Kaur shared her painful experience saying that she has paid the entire fees of the course to the university for the next semester and her visa is about to expire on 18 December, due to this restriction she won't be able to travel to Australia. As Australia is opening its border, she is facing issues due to a hike in the fees.
Many internationalstudents who were on temporary visas lashed out at the Australian governmentsaying that the government doesn’t think about us once while taking such decisions.Due to corona, they were already facing a financial crisis and such steps willincrease their miseries.