Australia is looking to enact wide-ranging changes this year to put a stop to unscrupulous agent behaviour and non-genuine students switching courses.

Executive Director of NAFSA, Marlene M Johnson, has used new data underlining the US$30.5 billion contribution of international education to the USA to call for common-sense immigration reform.

By the end of the summer President Obama will take administrative action to reform the US’s immigration system after lack of action from the House of Representatives to vote on an immigration bill passed in the Senate last June. “America cannot wait forever for them to act," he said.

Last week NAFSA, Association of International Educators held the world's largest annual international education conference in San Diego. The organisation threw its weight behind immigration reform once more as the number of delegates broke the 10,000 mark for the first time.

International educators urged representatives on Capitol Hill last week to push for immigration reform as part of NAFSA's annual Advocacy Day. Meanwhile, House Democrats are launching a petition to force the hand of House Republicans who have put off mooting immigration bill HR 15.

President Barack Obama reiterated his intention to fix the US's "broken immigration system" in his State of the Union address to Congress yesterday. NAFSA have welcomed the address, which they say "once again acknowledges that immigration reform remains a top priority for the nation".

A bipartisan group of the US senate has released its long awaited draft bill on overhauling the US immigration system. While the bill offers pros and cons for international students, educators will welcome a concession to increase the amount of employment-based visas for individuals holding graduate degrees in science fields by 5,000.

The White House and Senate are reaching common ground on the issue of post-study work rights for foreign students. A week after his second inauguration, US President Barack Obama outlined plans to fast-track green cards for skilled science graduates of US universities, with a bipartisan group of senators unveiling similar proposals days earlier.