NEW DELHI: The issue of Australian visa backlog, particularly related to students seeking to return to educational institutions in the country following the coronavirus pandemic, would be resolved by the year-end, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said.
“I want to tell you that it was something that I took up with different ministers when I was in Canberra. We have a particular problem that students are facing,” he said while speaking with the Indian community.
Out of the 1.05 lakh Indian students studying in Australia, 77,000 have managed a visa and are back in the country.
With a population of about 7 lakh, the Indian community is one of the top sources of skilled immigrants to Australia. Approximately 105,000 students presently study in Australian universities. After the UK, India was the second largest migrant group in Australia in 2020.
“But you all know that the numbers should be and could be much higher and I was assured that by the end of the year, the visa backlog, particularly in respect to students, would be cleared,” he added. “It’s not just students. There are also family reasons for people to travel,” he said, expressing hope that this is “one of the big disruptions of the Covid era that we will be able to put behind us in the coming year.”
Jaishankar said two issues -- partnership on mobility and mutual recognition degrees and qualifications -- would be transformational for the bilateral relationship. Partnership on mobility “means that Indian skills and talents that are in demand in Australia will have a legal framework, an agreed methodology by which they move from one country to another,” he said.
Now, India is reaching such agreements with a lot of countries like Japan, the UK and France.
“We are close to concluding one with Germany. And we have done some preliminary work with Australia,” he said.