FAQ Thread:Concerning visa for overseas students, read carefully

[chotn]

same here mate! my problem is i invested the money that i do not have to get a degree! need to pay a huge loan back to a private bank....
will change the pic of the group once i am made an admin, i got in touch with puja ( she does not know how to upgrade me to an admin).

a pic with a saying something like ' home office are the real thugs, give me my visa or my 50K tuition fees'

cool, and the money was from my parents, 50k is only the tuition fee, dont forget the cost of living is another 50k plus air tickets lol

[Rafael]

11% of students attending UK unis are international students. in the academic year 2004-2005, international students paid more than 1.5 billion pounds JUST for tuition fees.
international students expenditure contributes 3.3% of GDP in the UK (tuition fees, living expenses, rent, and tourism). http://www.hepi.ac.uk/downloads/32%2...20students.pdf


Time to get our money back and start a boycott? it's a tit-for-tat, home office announced this war on us all! they are not giving us any other choice! i am already hurt and feeling betrayed and used.....

'extremely angry Raoul'

if unis do not make a stand, then let's see how many international students will remain in this country and pay 4 times highers fees that home (or EU) students.

[Rafael]

I am an admin now, have a look at the discussion boards..... being a bit aggressive

[aussiepharmer]

yup, in aus if u have paid up 3/4 years of the international tuition fee, u will immedately be given a permenent residency, i regret that I chose the wrong country lol

Hi, I am an international student currently studying pharmacy in Australia. But where did you hear that info? (Do you have a source?)
I know that it takes around 3 months to get a PR after you graduate with a BPharm degree there. And you have to meet the requirements for point-based system of skilled immigration.

[chotn]

Hi, I am an international student currently studying pharmacy in Australia. But where did you hear that info? (Do you have a source?)
I know that it takes around 3 months to get a PR after you graduate with a BPharm degree there. And you have to meet the requirements for point-based system of skilled immigration.

just heard from my malaysian friends, everyone that i met during my exchange seemed to have got their PR after studying uni (some studied pharmacy, some did not)

[aussiepharmer]

just heard from my malaysian friends, everyone that i met during my exchange seemed to have got their PR after studying uni (some studied pharmacy, some did not)

Oops, and I forgot to ask you how old that information is - when did they tell you that? The Australian gov't seems to be wanting to change immigration laws these days.

[johnep]

At last you are all now forming a group to support each other. Perhaps a march with banners waving?
Good luck to you all.
johnep

[chotn]

Oops, and I forgot to ask you how old that information is - when did they tell you that? The Australian gov't seems to be wanting to change immigration laws these days.

they told me back in dec last year. well, some are in the middle of their 1st year phd straight after ug bachelor, so i suspect that was not very long ago
yes, laws over there are also everchanging. in some states, further registration exams are needed whilst in some don't, I suspect that those who dont are closing up the gap as well. strange isnt it, pharmacists that i spoke to there wanted to come to uk to work while my english friends who got exchanged to oz wanted to stay there

[aussiepharmer]

they told me back in dec last year. well, some are in the middle of their 1st year phd straight after ug bachelor, so i suspect that was not very long ago
yes, laws over there are also everchanging. in some states, further registration exams are needed whilst in some don't, I suspect that those who dont are closing up the gap as well. strange isnt it, pharmacists that i spoke to there wanted to come to uk to work while my english friends who got exchanged to oz wanted to stay there

What do you think the reason for this 'swapping' is? Maybe because pharmacists working in UK are better paid? And I have heard real estate prices and general cost of living in Australia is on par(?) with UK these days.

And how bad is the saturation of pharmacists in UK? Here in Aus, the saturation is so terrible that I still couldn't even receive a single interview offer for my pre-reg positions even I have applied for so many pharmacies! Although I have no work experience, I still have many friends who couldn't find pre-reg jobs even with more than 1 yr of work experience.
Even the suburbs far from the city are saturated, and this is especially serious with Sydney and Melbourne, the two largest cities in Australia. I also have a friend studying pharmacy in Perth(4th largest city), and he had a first-hand experience of a foriegn-educated pharmacist not being able to get a proper job who now doesn't bother earning $15/hour(temporarily)!!! Considering $14 is the min wage in Aus, the profession has gone down the drain.

P.S.) At least it seems like locum hospital pharmacists are doing well in terms of their pay rates in the UK. In Australia, normally, you would expect a hospital pharmacist in Aus(Grade 1 Pharmacist) right after pre-reg to be earning $21/hour. Not sure about locums, because it isn't as popular like in UK. And it takes 3 to 4 yrs to get to Grade 2. Butchers cutting meat would earn $19/hr. But what I am more worried about these days is that I might not be able to get a pre-reg position at all in worst case scenario - I have seen at least a couple of posts desperate to get into a pre-reg position ANYWHERE in Australia floating around in Google. I also know a friend of one of my friends who couldn't find a pre-reg position for more than a year.

How would you compare this situation with that of in UK?

[Rafael]

Aussie, you can start another topic re australia and pharmacists wages, supply or shortage...etc
please guys focus on the title of the topic.

anyone willing to help with starting a petition? we need a petition ASAP, we got 100 members in a day, come on guys!