Gap year in the US confirmed for students
A Sydney Morning Herald report says that two travel deals announced at the APEC forum yesterday will give Australian students a gap year in the US and reduce the need for short-stay visas by business travellers.
The work and holiday visa deal for university students, revealed in the Herald last month, is forecast to increase gap-year travel by 50 per cent.
The addition of the US to the APEC travel scheme will allow business visitors to travel under a single visa issued every three years.
The Prime Minister, John Howard, predicted that 15,000 Australians would take the US gap year, which has been under negotiation since 1999. “[Gap-year travel] is widely utilised by young Australians in the United Kingdom and other European countries,” Mr Howard said at a press conference with the US President, George Bush.
About 34,000 Australians travel overseas during the break in their studies. Most visit Britain where the visa deal offers relaxed work restrictions.
Data from the NSW and ACT University Admissions Centre shows an increasing number of students are deferring studies. Last year 9.75 per cent deferred, compared with 8.82 per cent in 2004 and 8.44 per cent in 2003.
Students are generally restricted to working in any one job for no more than six months to ensure they use their time in the host nation for a combination of work and tourism.
Business travellers with APEC visas will be allowed to join express queues used by air crews. “The US is a valuable trade partner so it will be invaluable,” a spokeswoman for the Minister for Immigration, Kevin Andrews, said. “It will be a huge benefit to trade.”
Report by The Mole
Jeremy Skidmore
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