Australia’s immigration department said on Friday it had wrongly cancelled the visas of up to 8 000 international students and asked diplomatic posts around the world to tell the wronged pupils they can resume their courses.
In a major hitch for Australia’s stated goal of becoming Asia’s education hub, a court found the immigration department had been using incorrect paperwork from May 2001 to August 2005.
The ruling forced the government to reinstate the revoked visas of 700 foreign students in Australia and more than 7 000 who left the country after being told they could not complete their courses.
The immigration department said it had asked its overseas offices to inform students, education bodies and other relevant organisations of the decision.
“The department is working to notify all potentially affected people through a range of methods, including an advertising campaign, letters to clients and website information,” it said in a statement.
The case arose after a student launched a legal challenge after his visa was cancelled because he had not attended sufficient classes in his cookery course.
The court found that the standard warning notice sent to the student was incorrectly worded.
Australia’s schools and universities earn about Aus$7,5-billion ($5,8-billion) a year from foreign students, representing the country’s fourth largest export earner worth more than the traditional exports of wool and wheat combined.
The vast majority of the students come from Asia, with China the fastest growing market.
The immigration department is already under fire for a series of bungles arising from the country’s hardline border protection policies.
The department has admitted wrongfully detaining more than 200 people who were in the country legally, including a German-born woman who was locked up for 10 months and a Philippines-born woman who was wrongfully deported. – AFP