Australia on Wednesday- 15th Dec reopened borders to vaccinated skilled migrants and foreign students after a nearly 2-year ban on their entry. They are taking measures to boost an economy hit by a stop-start by the recent Omicron variant of Corona, leading to Covid-19 lockdowns.
The emergence of the new Omicron variant forced officials to delay the reopening of international travel by 2 weeks after health officials sought a pause to get more information about the strain, which appears to show milder symptoms than other coronavirus variants.
Morrison told radio station 4BC about Australia reopening international borders, that they’re not going to live with this virus and not going to let it drag all of them to their previous conditions. He confirms that they’ve got the highest vaccination rates, so they can fight the thing without surrendering to it. He had been deemed a casual contact after attending an event last week along with a Covid-infected person, said he had been cleared to fly to Queensland after negative test results.
Australia has inoculated nearly 90% of people over the age of 16 with 2 doses and cut the waiting time for booster shots after the emergence of Omicron Australia cases.
The reopening of Australia’s borders for international students Australia came as its most populous state, New South Wales, reported its biggest 1-day rise in cases in 4 months, though Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the government was well placed to deal with rising numbers.
Necessities For Students To Enter Australia -Territory Wise
1. Western Australia will welcome fully vaccinated international students, without the need to quarantine, from 5 February 2022. This means that international students are not able to enter WA until 5 February.
2. For travel to Victoria, a COVID-19 PCR test is required within 24 hours of landing, with home isolation required until a negative test result is recorded. A follow-up COVID-19 PCR test is required between days 5 and 7 after your arrival.
3. For travel to New South Wales, a COVID-19 PCR test is required within 24 hours of landing, with home isolation required until a negative test result is recorded. A follow-up COVID-19 PCR test is required 6 days after arrival.
4. Queensland will welcome fully vaccinated international students, without the need to quarantine from early 2022. Students can currently enter Queensland, but you will need to quarantine under the state’s requirements.Â
5. South Australia will welcome fully vaccinated international students with no quarantine period once local vaccination targets are reached in early January 2022. Students CAN currently enter South Australia but they must undertake 7 days quarantine.Â
6. For travel to the Australian Capital Territory, a 72 hour quarantine period exists, day zero is the day you arrive in Australia for arrivals into the ACT.Â
Australia closed its borders in March 2020 in a bid to contain the spread of the new variant and had limited the number of citizens and permanent residents allowed to come back. The relaxation of border rules is expected to ease labor shortages, which threaten to hamper an economic rebound.
The return of international students to study in Australia is worth about A$35 billion a year to the Australian economy, which will help businesses to fill many casual and serious job posts. More than 235,000 foreigners, including about 160,000 students, held visas for Australia at the end of October, official data showed.
New South Wales, home to Australia’s biggest city of Sydney, lifted most restrictions from Wednesday for the unvaccinated, despite a steady rise in Omicron infections after a staggered reopening.
The state logged 1,360 new cases, the greatest day-by-day increase in over 90 days, and an almost 4-month lockdown finished toward the beginning of October. Australia has recorded around 235,500 cases and 2,117 deaths since the pandemic started.
The international students will need to meet all Australian Government border requirements and any state or territory quarantine requirements and cooperate with Australia to reopen conditions. Quarantine and testing arrangements for states and territories are changing.Â
International Student Arrival Plans apply in NSW, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, and the ACT. These have been formally endorsed by the Australian Government.
If one is taking part in a state or territory International Student Arrivals Plan, they are still able to travel to Australia under those arrangements. One has to contact their education provider to confirm further travel arrangements.
If the students are fully vaccinated, they are able to make their own separate arrangements to travel to Australia outside the International Student Arrivals Plan process.