Following our campaign last week against the DIBP cancellation threat letters, the department has backed down.
Nearly 1500 letters were sent out to students who had moved from SVP to non-SVP institutions, informing that they had breached their visa condition 8516. This had caused a lot of anxiety to students as well as education providers who believe that their degree courses are as good if not better than some of the Universities and non-Uni-SVP providers.
Students as well as institutions were confused as to what exactly the letter meant and what the consequences would be for them. A lot of students even assumed that these letters meant that their visas were being cancelled not knowing that they weren't Notice of Intention to Consider Cancellation (NOICC).
This week the department backed down after the intense media focus and following requests from students and non-SVP providers, who said that the ruling was sudden, unfair and causing much anxiety to students in the middle of their academic pursuits.
The Australian reports that "In an email to the Education Visa Consultative Committee, the department says it "will not take any further action against students" who transferred from an SVP degree course to a non-SVP degree course before the January 14 "education campaign" and who meet all other visa conditions."
This has come as a welcome breath of relief to students who were shell-shocked by the letters, many of whom had no idea what card would be dealt to them next. A Bachelors in IT student who received one of these letters says "I am so happy and relieved, thank you Immigration News for understanding us and our problems as international students. I can finally be stress-free and focus on my studies which is my most important reason for being here"
According to the Australian, the department says the response to its January 14 crackdown showed "that a number of students were unaware of the possible impacts of changing courses, particularly those students who have transferred to another provider or course within the higher education sector - including those students who have transferred to non-SVP eligible courses at a university".
"We consider that it would not be reasonable to penalise students who may have unintentionally breached the conditions of their visa prior to the launch of the campaign."
The department says that the general rule now will require a new visa for students who wish to switch from an SVP course to a non-SVP course.
As affected students will breathe a sigh of relief; it is important to note that this applies to students who had already moved from SVP to non-SVP providers before the education campaign by the Department of Immigration started on Janauary 14th. The department had agreed to not take any action retrospectively, however students need to note that they will have to follow the Immigration guidelines if they want to change providers now on.
You can read news reports concerning this here and here.
