Worried by continuing slide in the international students' numbers, the Australian government has decided to relax visa norms further.
The decision has coincided with former New South Wales minister Michael Knight's report that calls for loosening the onerous immigration requirements for international students.
The government has accepted all 41 recommendations made by the 'Knight Review'. These recommendations include similar assessment level for all international students regardless of their country of passport. The students would also need to show A$36,000 less to get Australian student visa.
The rising Australian dollar and global financial crisis have dealt a serious blow to the universities and vocational education colleges in the country as international students, especially from India and China, have started shunning Australia.
"The university and vocational education sectors have been concerned for some time that the visa system was making them uncompetitive in what is stiff competition among provider nations," Tertiary Education Minister Chris Evans said Thursday.
"They were wanting to make sure our visa system was allowing them to compete on an equal basis," the minister added.
The changes proposed by the Labor government include a more streamlined visa process for international students coming down under for higher studies. This would mean easing financial criteria. International students are now required to prove they have sufficient funds to finance their studies and living expenses in Australia upfront.
The proposed changes would also see introduction of a new work visa for international students. There are speculations that this work visa could be something similar to the ones offered by Canada and New Zealand to international students once they have finished their studies.
The post-studies work visa is likely to be of two to four years' validity depending upon the level of studies completed by the international student in Australia.
While the financial requirements would be relaxed considerably, the onus would be on the student to establish they are genuine students and have plans to return to home country after finishing the studies.
"It's not enough to be genuine about your studies and have no intention of going home, nor is it enough to be genuine about going home but not serious about your studies," Michael Knight said while speaking in a press conference in Canberra Thursday.
The assessment levels which decide financial requirements for various countries have been the major impediment for students from countries like India and China as they are classified as "high risk" countries. The higher assessment levels also mean students have to show much more funds in the bank accounts before student visa could be issued.
"Our consultations found that the financial requirements for student visas were too onerous, so we are reducing the financial requirements for some applicants, with students now needing around $36,000 less in the bank when applying for a visa," Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said in a statement accompanying the report's release. (IANS)
US President Barrack Obama has signed an executive order (G.O.) recently, easing the norms for sanctioning US Visas to the tourists. It is mainly intended to attract the tourists especially from developing countries like India and China, which stood first and second in tourists visit to US.
America is expecting at least 14% growth in the tourists' inflow in next five years. James W Herman, the in-charge of counseling affairs in US Embassy in India has said "The decision will surely increase the inflow of tourists into our country. We have been taking all measures to ease the process for sanctioning US Visas to tourists. We have already increased 6% staff in our US consulates in India and also opened two new consulates at Hyderabad and Mumbai cities. We have also made several changes to reduce the waiting period for Visas in our offices. Majority of our tourists are from India. So, we are trying to ease the process of Visa sanctioning to Indians. India stood in 2nd place in working visas and student visas. We have allotted 68 thousands of H1b Visas during the last year and sorted out 7 lakhs Visa application in India alone. So, we give India utmost priority in granting Visas," said Herman.
Chandrabau Naidu who made a personal appearance at the US embassy in Chennai has been granted visa to visit the US. Babu spent about five minutes at the embassy. He has been given a visa for 10 years. His visa has expired and he applied for a fresh visa. Babu is visiting the US for about 10 days. He will leave Hyderabad on June 26. He is expected to take part in the TANA conference during his visit.
2011/10/26 21:28:40 (IANS) The United States has assured India that it was "continuing to work" on the issue of hundreds of Indian students affected by the "horrible visa scam" by California based "sham" Tri-Valley University. Some 85 percent of over 1500 TVU students were Indian, mostly from Andhra Pradesh.
US authorities are reviewing a letter sent by the Indian Ambassador Nirupama Rao to the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asking that the cases of Indian students should be viewed in a "fair and reasonable manner," State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland told reporters Wednesday,
"She has (received), and we are reviewing that letter, and we intend to answer it," she said when asked if the treatment meted out to some of the Indian students affected by the closure of the university was justified.
"We had a pretty horrible visa scam, where a fake university petitioned and got visas for a bunch of students to come over and then actually turned out not to be a real educational institution," Nuland said.
"So we did take action, federal authorities closed down Tri-Valley University on January 11th, and we've also been working very hard, as we have told Indian authorities, to try to find other places in the US for these students who got scammed," she said.
As of Oct 19, 435 of the 1,500 former Tri-Valley University students were approved to be processed for transfer to other universities, she said. "And of the remaining cases, some students we're not going to be able place, but we're continuing to work on this issue."
Asked about the role of State Department officials in issue of visas to the students of the sham university, the official said: "Well, we issue visas on the basis of documentation that we get from institutions in the United States.
"So when we became aware of this, we turned it over for judicial review, and as I said, this scamming institution has now been closed down by US justice authorities."
The State Department in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and US Citizenship and Immigration Service, Nuland said, all "were involved in the busting of this group."
TVU president Susan Xiao-Ping Su, 41, was indicted in May by a federal grand jury on allegations of visa fraud and money laundering to the tune of $3.2 million by issuing visa-related documents to students in exchange for "tuition and fees".
CPI seeks immediate action to safeguard UNVA students
2011/7/31 4:18:33 Communist Party of India state secretary K Narayana on Sunday appealed to Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy to take immediate steps for protecting the interests of 2,000 students, who are pursuing their studies in University of Northern Virginia at Annandale(UNVA), which is being investigated for alleged visa fraud.
Releasing a copy of his letter to the media at Makhdoom Bhavan, Himayathnagar, Mr Narayana said the raids by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) department and Federal Bureau of Investigation have endangered the future of a large number of students from the state, who are enrolled in various courses.
He said that the visa-fraud charges levied against the UNVA was reminiscent of similar incident of the Tri-Valley University in California in January.
Mr Narayana appealed to the Chief Minister to use his Office to mount pressure on Centre to depute a Cabinet Minister to personally take stock of situation.
The CPI leader added that the Central government should take steps to continue students pursue their studies and improve the confidence of anxious parents.
Meanwhile, Special Secretary (Protocol) in the state government and in-charge of the NRI cell, N V Ramana Reddy stated "We have not been contacted by any concerned party. We will look into the matter when we receive complaints."
It may be recalled that both the UNVA and Tri-Valley University in California were accused of fraudulent practices in an investigative report carried by the US-based Chronicle of Higher Education, on private unaccredited universities exploiting visa loopholes to make money by cheating foreign students.
The UNVA, based in a suburb of Washington, Annandale, has about 2,400 students. Of these, an overwhelming number, around 90 per cent are Indian and an overwhelming majority of them are from Andhra Pradesh. (INN)
Former chief minister and TDP chief Chandra Babu Naidu will wait for his turn like ordinary mortals for a visa at the US embassy in Chennai. Chandra Babu’s visa has expired and he needs a fresh visa to go to the US in the last week of June. Chandra Babu Naidu was exempted from physical appearance at the US Embassy all theses years in his capacity as the Chief Minister.
The US embassy normally waives the rule of personal appearance for certain categories of people like chief ministers. It would be a new experience for Babu, who is attending an interview for visa. Babu has rubbed shoulders with non other than the then US president Bill Clinton when he came to Hyderabad. Babu as the chief minister had issued recommendation letters to the US Embassy requesting visas for many people including party legislators. He even saw to it that his personal staff was not required to go to Chennai for a visa while he was in power.
However, it is learnt that Chandra Babu did not seek an exemption to make a personal appearance at the embassy for the visa. If he had sought permission, he would surely have been granted the privilege.
The fake visa scam and the issue of actress Asha Saini being arrested for trying to smuggling out a girl by claiming her to be her make up artist has sent shockwaves in Tollywood. Many top producers and director are also said to be involved in this. Mallikarjuna Rao said to the media that some time back a delegation of about 20 artists went to the US to take part in TANA conference.
AVS tried to include his brother in the delegation as an astrologer. The US consulate did not issue a visa to him stating that the services of an astrologer were not needed in a cultural team. AVS now wants to know what this has to do with the visa scam.
2011/10/22 0:38:42 US authorities have approved the transfer of 435 Indian students of the Tri-Valley University to other institutions, indicating some progress in addressing the plight of nearly 1,800 Indian students affected by its closure.
They were among more than a thousand students, who were being considered for transfer to other universities, US officials told Indian embassy representatives Friday during a meeting to discuss the issues relating to Indian students of the allegedly "sham" California-based university.
They also informed the embassy that 145 Indian students were denied transfers and about an equal number were issued with Notices of Intention to Deny (NOIDs). The remaining cases of transfer are still under examination, according to an Indian embassy press note.
The cases of Indian students have been examined individually after evaluating all the information provided by the students, officials said and advised that students who have received NOIDs should reply to the notices in stipulated time with required / additional information/documents.
Officials of the State and Homeland Security departments as also United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and its investigative arm Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) attended the meeting.
Indian officials in turn impressed upon US officials that the Indian students of Tri-Valley University have undergone hardship since the closure of the University and that their cases should be viewed with understanding.
The Indian embassy is continuing its efforts with US authorities for addressing the plight of TVU students, the press note said.
In another positive development, sources said, US officials had also assured that in case anybody decides to opt out of the transfer process and go back to India and apply afresh from there , their cases would be considered on the basis of the quality of the fresh applications without any reference to the TVU situation.
TVU president Susan Xiao-Ping Su, 41, was indicted in May by a federal grand jury on allegations of visa fraud and money laundering to the tune of $3.2 million by issuing visa-related documents to students in exchange for "tuition and fees".
Some 85 percent of TVU students were Indian, mostly from Andhra Pradesh. (IANS)
2011/10/12 9:00:12 The Sanjeeva Reddy Nagar police on Wednesday arrested two foreign students who were trying to sell cocaine.
According to police, the accused - Mwinyi Kassim Mwaka, 34, of Tanzania and Hihab L Bin, 24, of Sudan have come to Hyderabad on students' visa for higher studies. They were living in a rented room at the Sanikpuri area in Secunderabad.
However, on Wednesday they were arrested by the police when they tried to sell cocaine to some youth in the SR Nagar police station limits. Police has also seized about 8.5 grams of cocaine from their possession. (INN)
2011/7/29 0:09:28 Even before, the Tri Valley University case settles down, one more University in US found running in the same track of Tri Valley. The future of 2000 Andhra students of North Virginia University- Washington, hangs in the air with the US emigration department seizing of its offices and web site. The University which is allowed to issue only 50 I-20 Visas to its students was found given much more than its limit taking advantage of the Andhra students’ eagerness to grab a seat in US universities.
The US Authorities who are investigating this case, keeping in view of the severe criticism that they have faced for fixing electronic monitoring devices to student’s legs in the Tri Valley University case, have refrained from such practices this time. The US Authorities were said to be given 3 options to the students.
1.To continue in the same University if it starts functioning again. 2. To seek transfer into some other University 3. Voluntarily return home.
The Authorities have also agreed not to terminate the present visa status of the students until their present duration, so as they can get transferred to some other universities.
The Indian Embassy in Washington has been in touch with the US authorities to try and ensure that the students are not victimized.
2007/11/21 10:09:00 After getting a big shock with the CAG report, the state government went on the defensive yesterday. But the government has now made a U turn and has now decided to brazen it out.
Ministers Rosiah and Ponnala have started claiming that the CAG report was only recommendatory in nature. They now say that it is not binding and that many of the facts and figures in the report are not correct and even misleading. Ponnala says that the new norms in the tender process have made the earlier norms redundant. The new norms have not been taken into account by CAG.
2008/3/14 12:58:37 The issue of fake visa and the smuggling of people, in the name of artists and technicians has taken a big twist. The US consulate officials state that there are some very big names in the list of 200 people who have been banned from entering into the US forever.
A bit producer, a leading hero and also a leading comedian are said to be in the list that is in the possession of the investigating agencies in Chennai. The gossip in film nagar is now about the identity of these three people. Many names are coming out but no one is yet to come out on record. Till then, the suspense over the names of the big fish involved in the fake visa racket will remain under wraps.
2008/3/14 8:11:11 The issue of fake visa and the smuggling of people, in the name of artists and technicians has taken a big twist. The US consulate officials state that there are some very big names in the list of 200 people who have been banned from entering into the US forever.
A big producer, a leading hero and also a leading comedian are said to be in the list that is in the possession of the investigating agencies in Chennai. The gossip in film nagar is now about the identity of these three people. Many names are coming out but no one is yet to come out on record. Till then, the suspense over the names of the big fish involved in the fake visa racket will remain under wraps.
All those in possession of assigned land can now relax. The recent storm over the state government’s decision to take back assigned lands is likely to blow over. The government is likely to levy a fee and legalize assigned land.
However the relief would be only in case of land that has been used to construct houses, hospitals, industries, charitable institutions etc. The government would soon make amendments to the G.O. and come up with revised norms. A compounding fee would be charged and the land regularized.
2011/9/2 3:10:48 Visa related services will soon be available in post offices -- in remote areas.
India Post Friday said it has signed an agreement with VFS Global to provide the services. VFS Global is a leading outsourcing firm providing administrative functions for diplomatic missions across the world.
The agreement was signed Aug 8.
Under the pact, post office counters will be used for fee collection, sell visa application forms, provide information and other services.
India Post and VFS Global are also planning to cooperate in utilizing India Post?s courier service, Speed Post for moving passports to VFS offices and embassies, and their delivery back to the applicants.
Currently people from smaller cities and rural areas travel long distances to avail passport and visa services.
Lack of information is a major area of concern as this allows unscrupulous elements to cheat unsuspecting people. (IANS)
2011/10/18 3:04:41 The recent denial of visa to the Dalai Lama by the South African government has been dragged to courts here.
In an affidavit before the Western Cape High Court, representatives of the Tibetan spiritual leader in South Africa said the country's High Commission in New Delhi had declined to accept a visa application on his behalf on two occasions.
Then on the third occasion, the application was directed to a private processing agency. Since a reply to the request for visa was not forthcoming, the Dalai Lama eventually cancelled his visit.
He had been invited to attend the 80th birthday celebrations of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu in Cape Town Oct 7. He was also scheduled to speak at other engagements.
Indian officials accompanying Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said this matter, however, will not come up during his discussions with his host and South African President Jacob Zuma, since New Delhi considers it an internal matter of Pretoria.
Mumbai, April 22 (IANS) Singer Sonu Nigam, who was due to perform at London's O2 arena Sunday, is disappointed after he had to cancel his visit following visa issues.
Nigam was due to share stage with Pakistani singer Atif Alsam at Dhamaka Bollywood Concert London 2012, but had to pull out after his group members failed to get visas.
"Disappointed and enraged to inform everyone that I'm not coming to London. Hard to believe that except my visa, not a single visa for my group was done. Never happened in 20 years of overseas travel," Nigam tweeted.
"Don't know whom to blame. Our entire team's time and repute has been wasted. Only if the show is postponed now to another date, would we be vindicated. Prayers everyone," he further posted.
The Visakha Urban Development Corporation has flouted all norms and constructed a high rise building. The building doesn’t have the minimum fire safety measures in place.
And Vuda is not the only one that has flouted the fire safety norms. The Fire department says that about 100 high-rise structures in Visakhapatnam have flouted the fire safety norms.
2012/2/12 7:51:31 The family members of Jangam Praveen Reddy, the city youth who has been stabbed in London, have been granted UK visa.
Praveen, who was doing MBA from London School of Business, was critically stabbed on Friday night in the Newham borough of London.
Praveen's brother Jayashankar Reddy told reporters here on Sunday that the family members have been granted UK visa and they were rushing to London. He said Praveen was still critical, but there has been an improvement in his condition. Earlier on Saturday, Foreign Minister SM Krishna spoke to Praveen's father Sudhakar Reddy and assured him of all help from the Centre. Krishna also spoke to acting High Commissioner in the UK Rajesh Prasad asking him to extend all possible help to Praveen's family.
Meanwhile, three Indians have reportedly been arrested on the charges of attempt to murder. However, the motive behind the incident was not yet known. (INN)
2007/4/19 6:18:54 This is perhaps for the first time in the history of the state when four students dragged their professors onto the street and bashed them up. The incident occurred at the Kakatiya University at Warangal. About 100 students gathered at the the Physics department and beat up four professors.
They alleged that about 14 students have been deliberately failed in MSc. Physics third semester by the professors. What is strange is that all of them are toppers and one of them is a university topper. The students allege that the Professors are showing undue favours on laggards and have deliberately failed the bright students.
One of the ‘failed’ students tried to commit suicide which triggered off the ugly incident.
2012/1/6 8:07:28 Sydney, Jan 6 (IANS) India suffered an innings and 68 runs defeat in the second cricket Test against Australia on the fourth day at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) here Friday.
India were bowled out for 400 in the second innings and made 191 in the first. Australia declared their first innings at 659 for four. Australia takes an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-match Border Gavaskar Trophy.
Worried by continuing slide in the international students' numbers, the Australian government has decided to relax visa norms further.
(IANS) The United States has assured India that it was "continuing to work" on the issue of hundreds of Indian students affected by the "horrible visa scam" by California based "sham" Tri-Valley University. Some 85 percent of over 1500 TVU students were Indian, mostly from Andhra Pradesh.
US authorities have approved the transfer of 435 Indian students of the Tri-Valley University to other institutions, indicating some progress in addressing the plight of nearly 1,800 Indian students affected by its closure.
Visa related services will soon be available in post offices -- in remote areas.
The recent denial of visa to the Dalai Lama by the South African government has been dragged to courts here.
