MELBOURNE: Almost a quarter of foreign students study in Australia in order to become permanent residents, a new survey has claimed, the findings which may threaten the $17 billion education industry following new changes to skilled migration system.

Respondents rated Australia as a safer place to study than any other country, including the US, Britain, Canada and New Zealand but rated quality of education slightly poor when compared to them.

According to the online survey of over 1600 foreign students from over 10 Australian universities says that 24 per cent of respondents were studying overseas in order to become permanent residents, which was five per cent more as compared to when the query was asked in a similar survey in 2005.

The results could heighten industry fears about the possible impact of recently announced changes to the skilled migration system, 'The Age' said in its report.

Recently government overhauled the skilled migration system that has delinked permanent residency to foreign students with certain trade courses like hairdressing and cookery.

According to the Australian Government, Student Visa holders still have options to seek permanent residency to Australia under the latest changes to Australian Immigration policy.

Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Chris Evans stated that students who are studying vocational, higher education, or post-graduate courses would be able to apply for permanent residence if their occupation was on the new Skilled Occupation List (SOL), which is expected to be made available in April.

Senator Evans said "The new SOL, to be developed by Skills Australia, will be tightly focused on high value skills that will assist in addressing Australia's future skills needs. It will deliver a mix of skills across the professions and trades in areas such as healthcare, engineering and mining. The SOL will be available in April and will be reviewed annually".

Students with occupations that are not on the new SOL will need to apply for a temporary skilled graduate visa by December 2012, which will allow them to live and work in Australia for up to 18 months. The aim is to provide these students with enough time to find an employer that is willing to sponsor them.

Students who are unsuccessful in their temporary skilled graduate visa applications, or are unable to find sponsorship within the 18 month visa duration will need to return to their own country and apply through the general skilled migration program.

"It must be remembered that a student visa is just that: a visa to study. It does not give someone an automatic entitlement to permanent residence," said Senator Evans, "International students should be focused on obtaining a good qualification from a quality education provider in a field in which they want to work".

If you are interested in Visas to Australia, contact Migration Expert for information and advice on which visa is best suited to you. You can also try our visa eligibility assessment to see if you are eligible to apply for a visa to Australia.