Australia on Monday axed 20,000 migrant applications in a major overhaul aimed at clamping down on foreign students gaining permanent residency through courses such as hairdressing and cookery. Immigration Minister Chris Evans said the reforms, which follow a sudden rise in Australia's Indian population and an embarrassing rash of attacks on students from the country, would give priority to migrants with higher skills.
Evans said about 20,000 overseas applicants would have their fees refunded at a cost of 14 million dollars (12 million US), while new rules would require better English skills and target the "best and brightest". "The current points test puts an overseas student with a short-term vocational qualification gained in Australia ahead of a Harvard-educated environmental scientist," Evans said in a statement.
The new measures are likely to weigh on Australia's large overseas education sector, which successfully targeted Asian students to become the country's fourth largest earner of foreign money. The sector has been hit by widespread allegations of shoddy practice and visa scams by migration agents, with several institutions forced to close last year.