International Student getting PR during med school and internships

[MystK]

Not sure if I should post it here, so if it needs to be move or deleted please do so and sorry for any inconveniences caused! My questions is for an international student (not me) who gets their PR during Med school and becomes a domestic FFP are they still viewed as an international graduate for internship purposes?

 

[Mana]

So - at least in NSW - I know someone who was in this exact situation, but it was some years ago. I am pretty certain she was category 1 (ie treated as a local graduate) in NSW come internship time.

 

[A1]

Not sure if I should post it here, so if it needs to be move or deleted please do so and sorry for any inconveniences caused! My questions is for an international student (not me) who gets their PR during Med school and becomes a domestic FFP are they still viewed as an international graduate for internship purposes?

Adding to Mana's reply I have seen in print from Med Deans the student's status would be switched from Int'l FFP to Domestic FFP. As of today Domestic FFP is Priority Category 1 same as CSP.

However this could lead to a potential problem not many are aware of. Switched to domestic Cat 1 means it imposes an additional internship the state gov is obligated to provide, which they may not be happy to (under certain circumstances). I have been contacted by a member who wrote, quote:
"I notified the school 3 weeks ago regarding the visa/PR changes. I was passed around for 3 weeks until I eventually landed on the admission coordinator's radar. They notified me that I will need to have a very good reason for gaining PR as it is not recommended for international students. They said they will only look into the specifics with the Dean's approval. They told me I may not be able to stay in this Medicine program."

Btw I'm not saying it's going to be a problem, only highlighting the fact we can't assume the switch is automatically approved.

 

[Mana]

Yes, there can be issues prior to internship as per A1's reply.

Notably, international FFPs and domestic FFPs are not always the same in terms of costs (the international fee is usually higher if there is a discrepancy as part of the point of universities offering international FFPs is to offset some of the costs of domestic students).
It's thus also likely that the admission requirements for international and domestic students were quite different (for example at this time there was no UMAT requirement for international FFPs).

The person I mentioned in the above situation attempted to reapply to the same university while she was an international student to see if she could get a CSP place once she had her permanent residency (however was unable to get this). I'm not sure if the university changed her fees from international to domestic fee paying.

 

[MystK]

Adding to Mana's reply I have seen in print from Med Deans the student's status would be switched from Int'l FFP to Domestic FFP. As of today Domestic FFP is Priority Category 1 same as CSP.

However this could lead to a potential problem not many are aware of. Switched to domestic Cat 1 means it imposes an additional internship the state gov is obligated to provide, which they may not be happy to (under certain circumstances). I have been contacted by a member who wrote, quote:
"I notified the school 3 weeks ago regarding the visa/PR changes. I was passed around for 3 weeks until I eventually landed on the admission coordinator's radar. They notified me that I will need to have a very good reason for gaining PR as it is not recommended for international students. They said they will only look into the specifics with the Dean's approval. They told me I may not be able to stay in this Medicine program."

Btw I'm not saying it's going to be a problem, only highlighting the fact we can't assume the switch is automatically approved.

Yes I understand, I go to WSU and on their website it states that:

"If an International student obtains Australian permanent residency or citizenship, or New Zealand citizenship prior to 1 January of the commencing year of the program, the International offer of a place in MD (or the enrolment) will be withdrawn and the student must re-apply as a local student.

If an International student obtains Australian permanent residency or citizenship, or New Zealand citizenship AFTER 1 January of the year of commencement of the program, the student will be seen as having entered into a contract with the University to pay international fees for that semester. For the following and subsequent semesters, the student's status will change to that of a local student and provided they meet other progression criteria, they will be converted to a domestic full fee paying place in MD. This is in accordance with S.32.1 of the Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education "Administrative Information for higher educators: Student Support", 2012.

There are no Commonwealth Supported Places available for MD students who become permanent residents"

Edit: I do know that in some other Uni's like I think UAdel they specifically stated that if an international student gets PR they may not be able to remain in the program tho

So I am under the impression that provided they pass the year's exams and assignment (other progression criterias) they "will be converted to a domestic ffp"

 

[A1]

So I am under the impression that provided they pass the year's exams and assignment (other progression criterias) they "will be converted to a domestic ffp"

Yes it appears so for WSU in particular. The other schools like Adelaide can have different policies.

As an aside, did you know that the NT cohort in Flinders MD are classified as domestic FFP? That's because their tuition fees are funded by the NT gov (thus not CSP Cmwth-Supported) in return for a commitment to work 4 years in the NT, they can't apply for an internship elsewhere like other graduates can.

 

[arian_arian]

I've heard some schools enter into a contract with the students that make them pay the international fees during the whole program even if they get their PR half way through. Not sure which schools do this specifically but they may have different policies.