Australia’s plans to alter visa rules for foreign university students were welcomed today by education professionals who hope it will counteract the off-putting effect of the high Aussie dollar.

The new visa arrangements, announced yesterday, for students at the bachelor degree level or higher are designed to make processing quicker and easier.

The changes include allowing university students two or four years of work after graduation and Canberra also plans to reduce the amount of money some students need to have in a bank account when they apply by about A$36,000 (US$35,330).

The International Education Association Australia, a professional body which promotes international education in the country, called for the move to be rapidly implemented as international students are being turned off by the high currency.

“I think we are still an attractive destination for all sorts of reasons, it’s just been difficult to get here,” said IEAA president Stephen Connelly.

“Now it would appear that it’s going to be much easier for students to get study visas.”

Under the reforms, Australia will also abandon the minimum English skills required of foreigners applying for a visa to study English.

Australia’s international education sector is the nation’s third-largest export industry, worth some A$18 billion and with more than 300,000 foreign students enrolled in the country’s institutions.

But it has reportedly suffered a 10 percent downturn in 2010-11, with Canada and the United States grabbing more Chinese students and Indian enrolments suffering as result of negative publicity generated by a series of attacks.

The reforms are set to be mostly implemented in 2012-13.

- AFP