Can anyone provide information on the latest updates on travel (in covid -19 situation)
Sumit
There are continuous updates. Some of the important updates are mentioned below:
| February 15, 2022: Australia is set to open its borders for fully vaccinated visa holders without any travel exemptions from February 21, 2022. Those visa holders who are not fully vaccinated would require a travel exemption and might have to quarantine upon arrival as well. |
| January 25, 2022: Australia introduces Temporary (subclass 408) visa for international students to foster employment rate in critical sectors and esuring their functioning to provide services to the country. In this case students either before course commencement and during course can work for more than 40 hours in a fortnight. Applications are being accepted online and fee waiver is available for students flying in AUstralia between Jan 19-March 19, 2022. Find info: Temporary (subclass 408) Visa Introduced in Australia to Bridge Employment Decline |
| December 13, 2021: Temporary Graduate (subclass 485) Visa holders who were unable to travel to Australia amid COVID-19 restrictions are eligible to apply for a replacement visa. This is applicable for both current and former visa holders in order to apply for the same duration as proposed in the original guidelines. Also, Australian Government has proposed to increase the stay time for Temporary Graduate Visa holders from 2-3 years and VET field graduates to 2 years. |
| These measures have been announced in favour of international students who have spent their time studying away from Australia amid COVID-19. Applications will be available from mid 2022 only. Temporary Graduate Visa (subclass 485) holders willing to apply for a replacement visa must remember that their course must finish as per CRICOS timeline that is, at least 92 weeks. Also the course and institution of the applicant must be CRICOS recognised. It is a must to have a job in hand before applying for the post study work permit in Australia as well. |
| From November 16, 2019, Adelaide, Perth and Gold Coast are classified as regional by the federal government. This allows the cities' university graduates an additional year of post-study work rights (PSWR). Also, the graduates in Darwin city can stay for two more years and Ph.D. graduates can stay up to six years. Even after receiving the regional status for migration, all cities other than Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane will not be entitled to the Destination Australia scholarships. |
Samm
The update available in February 2022 as follows:
All the arriving international students must be vaccinated with at least two doses or booster doses if eligible in their home countries. They must also take RAT or PCR test within 24 hours of arrival or a PCR test on day six or a RAT on day seven during self-quarantine.
The students must carry proofs of negative Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) within 24 hours before departure and isolate for seven days at a suitable premise approved by WA Police or WA Department of Health after arrival.
Eligible returning international students will also get a payment of 2,000 Australian dollars ($1,430) to help cover the cost of self-quarantine, according to the government.
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