Category: General news

The National Eligibility Test conducted by University Grants Commission, better known as UGC NET is scheduled to be held this June 24th, 2012. Starting this year, UGC NET will be completely objective.

Also, the paper will have no negative marking and the candidates will be allowed to carry the carbon printout of optical mark recognition (OMR) response sheets with them after the examination.

Till last year Paper III was objective, but starting 2012, all three papers will be objective in nature.

NET is conducted as an entrance to test eligibility for lectureship and for award of Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) for teaching profession and research. “The commission has decided to change the pattern of examination. All the three papers will be objective and will be held on the same day in two separate sessions. The syllabus, though, for all the three papers remains the same as that of the previous year,” said Surender Singh, deputy secretary (NET), UGC.

There has been an increase in the number of foreign students coming to the U.S. for MBA programs despite the economic downturn.

According to Christine Sneva, director of admissions and financial aid at the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University, international enrollments increased by 12 percent from the previous school year.

“I don’t think the U.S. seems as unfriendly to international applicants anymore, which is great,” expressed Christine Sneva. “It just seems like a certain level of optimism has returned for international students.”

A recent report from the Council of Graduate Schools also showed that this fall, the largest increase in total international graduate enrollment at U.S. colleges and universities occurred in business, which had a 6 percent gain following no growth in 2010. Nathan Bell, the council’s director of research and policy analysis said that surge was the largest increase in immigrant students attending the graduate business school sector since 2007.

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Indian students seeking to study in the UK will likely not be affected by recent changes to the student visa rules, said Peter Beckingham, British deputy high commissioner, at an event on November 28, 2011.

The new rules, announced earlier this year, referred to denying UK student visas for admission offers from certain UK institutions and eliminating the option of the two-year post-study work visa from April 2012.

“There has been a decline in the number of students going from India to the UK because the government has deemed some universities as not appropriate,” said Beckingham. “The actual number of students going to recognised universities, however, has gone up.”

A delegation from Imperial College in London visit Mumbai on November 28, 2011 as part of a tour to explore research partnerships with Indian institutions as well as announce new scholarships for prospective student wishing to come to the UK under student visa routes.

“I don’t think the situation is at all in any way severe. Things are moving in the right direction,” said Sir Keith O’Nions, the university’s rector. He also emphasized that students would be able to apply for a new kind of post-study work visa called the “enterprise visa”.
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The Australian government will extend the post-study work arrangements from 2013 as part of its ongoing commitment to support the international education sector.

Following the recent announcement on post-study work arrangements for universities graduates in response to the Knight Review of the Student Visa program, a joint media release with Chris Evans – Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Jobs and Workplace Relations and Chris Bowen – Minister for Immigration and Citizenship on November 30 announced the extension of this program to Bachelor or higher degree graduates from education providers accredited to offer degree level programs.
According to the announcement, degree holders who graduate after at least two academic years’ study in Australia will be eligible for the post-study work arrangements from 2013, in time for students who are applying for an Australian student visa now.
“These changes bring Australia into line with arrangements in other countries and enable education providers to offer a more competitive package to international students who are seeking good quality and long-term study in Australia, regardless of their field of interest,” Senator Evans stated.

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New Australian Visa Application Fees for 2012

The Australian federal government has announced changes to the cost of applying for Australian visas from next year in an effort to return the budget to surplus.According to the Immigration Minister Chris Bowen’s release on November 29, Australian student visa application fees will drop by 5 percent while other Australian visa application fees will increase.

The Minister indicated that the decrease in the student visa application fee would help to increase the competitiveness of Australia’s international education sector.In contrast, fees for a range of skills and business visas will go up by between 5 percent and 15 percent.Fee increases will also affect dependants of visa applicants and applicants who make paper-based visa applications where there is an ‘e’ visa option.

“If people are bringing family members with them to Australia, the fee will reflect the additional processing and checks for these family members,” the Minister clarified.

Australian visitor visas and humanitarian visas will not change as a result of these changes.

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The Canadian government is introducing  a Super Visa for Parents to clear the backlog of applications of such people who have applied for sponsorship visa to meet their relatives living in Canada.

According to Tim Singh Uppal Canada,newly appointed minister of state for democratic reforms ,thousands of applications of parents and grandparents of the NRIs living in Canada are lying pending so the Canadian government has taken the initiative to issue Super Visa for Parents for 10 years to clear the backlog.“ Though no new applications would be entertained for next two years till the pending applications were cleared,” Mr.Uppal said.

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The US still remains the top education destination for Indians, with US visa applications by Indian students increasing by 18 per cent over the last year.

According to a statement from  US embassy  student visa applications increased by 18 per cent, from 39,958 applications in 2010 to 46,982 in 2011.

Over 100,000 Indian students are currently studying at universities across the US.

To meet the surging demand for student visas, the US mission has increased funding for the Education USA Advising Centers at the US-India Educational Foundation (USIEF), which provides educational seminars and advising opportunities both in person and via the Internet.

From November 5, student visa applicants will need to include a confirmation of enrolment ( COE), issued by their intended education provider, as part of their applications.

This will improve processing time as students will no longer need to wait for a pre-visa assessment (PVA) letter to be issued by the department of immigration and citizenship ( DIAC).

Changes have also being made to reduce the financial requirements for assessment level (AL) 3 and 4 students. A reduction in the period of funds to be shown upfront with a visa application should make obtaining a student visa to Australia more competitive with other popular study destinations.

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There has always been a requirement for full time non-EEA students to demonstrate access to sufficient funds to support themselves during their period of study in Ireland. This is a welfare condition to ensure that a student can support themselves in the initial months of their stay in Ireland. This requirement to demonstrate adequate funding is in line with immigration rules in other jurisdictions and this condition applies to all non-EEA students irrespective of whether or not their nationality requires a visa for the purposes of entering the State.

Currently, students from Visa required countries are required to demonstrate that they have access to €7,000 as part of their Visa application and in that regard it is reasonable to require such students to have access to some of that fund when they first arrive in Ireland.

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Foreigners may make an application to obtain an Immigration Permit on the basis of one of the Categories referred to in Regulation 5 of the Aliens and Immigration Regulations. An Immigration Permit will not be granted to anybody unless the Immigration Control Board recommends to the Minister of Interior that such person belongs to one of the following Categories:

Category A: Persons who intend to work as self employed in agriculture, cattle breeding, bird breeding or fish culture in the Republic, provided that they have in their possession adequate land or a permit to acquire same, they have fully and freely at their disposal capital of approximately EUR 430,000 and such an employment should not negatively affect the general economy of the Republic.

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