Australia cautioned numerous colleges about fraudulent recruitment techniques and announced steps on Wednesday to increase the financial requirements for international students applying for visas in an attempt to counteract soaring migration trends.

Effective Friday, international students seeking a visa will need to demonstrate that they have saved a minimum of A$29,710 ($19,576). After around seven months, this is the second increment. A$21,041 was the prior amount, and it was raised to A$24,505 in October.

These actions are a response to the recent initiatives to strengthen the regulations pertaining to student visas. After COVID-19 restrictions were lifted in 2022, immigration increased, which raised demand in the already competitive rental market and precipitated these moves.

In addition to raising the bar for English language competency on student visas in March, the administration has been working to revoke provisions that extended student stays.

According to Clare O'Neil, Minister of Home Affairs, 34 educational institutions were issued warning letters for engaging in "non-genuine or exploitative recruitment practices." Offenders face a maximum sentence of two years in prison and a ban from recruiting students if proven guilty.

"In our global education system, dishonest vendors have no place. O'Neil claims that these actions will help eliminate dishonest businesspeople who attempt to defraud individuals and harm the industry's reputation.

Australia's economy depends heavily on its export industry, which is foreign education, which is expected to generate A$36.4 billion ($24 billion) in revenue between 2022 and 2023. However, the migration wave—which is primarily the product of international students—is posing a challenge to the government, and as a result, rental costs have surged nationwide. Net immigration increased by a record 60% to reach 548,800 in the year that ended September 30, 2023.

The government anticipates that its policies will slash Australia's immigration intake in half during the next two years.