ISANA

Please read over the relevant legislation as it applies to your institution in New Zealand or Australia.

Australian Legislation

Australian Legislation
Easy Guide to ESOS
ESOS Legislation
The National Code of Practice
The National Code of Practice Explanatory Guide

New Zealand Legislation

New Zealand Legislation
NZ Acts of Parliament

Changes to Australian Student Visa

Visa Entitlement Verification Online (VEVO) factsheet - effective 26 April 2008 (61k pdf)
Permission to work changes factsheet - effective 26 April 2008 (62k pdf)

There will be new permission to work and label-free arrangements for
student visa holders that will come into effect from 26 April 2008.

About the permission to work changes
From 26 April 2008, all student visas will be granted with work rights
attached. This will remove the need for the majority of international
students to make a separate application for a student visa with permission
to work in Australia and streamline the process for student visa holders.

While student visa holders will have work rights automatically included in
their visa grant, the work conditions themselves will not change. Students
and their dependents will still have the same work rights as before and
will be restricted from undertaking work until the student has commenced
their course in Australia. Work conditions 8105 and 8104 will change
slightly to accommodate the new arrangements:

Primary applicants (students) will be granted a student visa
automatically subject to new condition 8105. This condition will allow
the holder to work up to 20 hours per week while their course is in
session, excluding any work undertaken as a registered part of their
course. This condition will also restrict the holder from undertaking
any work until the holder has commenced their course in Australia.

Secondary applicants (student dependents) will be granted a student visa
automatically subject to new condition 8104. This condition will allow
the holder to work up to 20 hours per week and will restrict the holder
from undertaking any work until the primary visa holder has commenced
their course of study in Australia. This condition will also specify
that dependents of students who have commenced a Masters or PhD level
course are able to work unlimited hours.

Conditions 8105 and 8104 will also include the definition of a 'week' in
relation to work limitations as being a period commencing on a Monday and
ending on a Sunday.

Increase in the Student Visa Application Charge
To accommodate the new permission to work arrangements, the Student Visa
Application Charge will increase by AUD$20 to AUD$450 from 26 April 2008.
This will result in an overall saving of $40 for student visa holders who
were previously required to pay $430 on initial application and a further
$60 in Australia for permission to work.

The new Visa Application Charge will apply to all student visa
applications, including subclass 580 (student guardian), lodged on or after
26 April 2008.

Transitional arrangements
Persons granted students visas subject to 8101 (no work allowed) prior to
26 April 2008 will continue to be able to lodge an application for
permission to work online or by paper using form 157P - Application for a
student visa with permission to work. The application charge for
permission to work will remain at AUD $60. This is the same as previous
arrangements.

Encouraging Label-Free Travel and use of the Visa Entitlement Verification
Online (VEVO) service
Associated with the permission to work changes , the Department is also
expanding visa label-free arrangements to further groups of students. From
26 April 2008, label-free arrangements will be extended to countries in the
Assessment Level 2-4 eVisa trail, namely India, Indonesia and Thailand.
Only students from the People's Republic of China will continue to require
visa labels to facilitate their travel.

A communications campaign is being implemented to encourage label-free
travel and the use of the Visa Entitlement Verification Online (VEVO)
service to check visa information and entitlements. Promotional material
will be provided for distribution to your students shortly.

More Information
Changes to the website have been approved for the new arrangements and will
'go live' from 24 April 2008.

Included for your information and distribution are factsheets on the new
permission to work and label-free arrangements. These factsheets are
already available on the DIAC website.