The federal government says a backlog in student visa processing has now been reduced, after a switch to a “simplified” system had triggered an unexpected surge in applications.

联邦政府称待审理的学生签证积压数量已有所下降，此前移民局采用的“简化版”系统引发了一阵始料未及的申请高峰。

The bottleneck in visa processing has been building since the July 1 shift to the new system. Providers reported waiting times of up to nine months.

自7月1日实行新系统后，签证审理就遇到了瓶颈。根据各院校的说法，部分等待期甚至长达9个多月。

Sources said the new security environment was causing immigration officials to treat any student applicant as potentially high risk, adding to processing times for applications from traditionally low-risk countries.

据消息人士称，目前新型的安全环境导致移民局官员在审理每一个学生的签证申请时都当作潜在高风险个案处理，这便使得原本属于低风险国家的申请都有所迟缓。

But the department said the backlog in applications was now “in line with last year’s numbers”.

不过移民局称，待审理的学生签证积压数量已有所下降，目前学签申请的积压量“已经与去年数字持平了”。

The department said provider groups had also stressed the need to meet students’ “core start dates”.

移民局还表示，各院校也向其强调了学生必须要能在“关键开学日”入学。

“We’ve told the sector and universities that if they have a particular concern with a start date, the department will deal with their particular issues.

“我们已经向教育界及各高校表明，如果他们对于学生开学时间有特别忧虑的话，移民局会帮助解决相应问题。

“Those things have been raised directly, and dealt with. We’re staying in close contact with people in the sector, and they’re indicating they’re happy with those arrangements.”

“学校直接提出了问题，我们也做出了相应的处理。我们与教育界一直保持紧密的联系，他们也表示对于相关安排非常满意。”

The department said the mid-year spike in applications had been “out of expectations”, caused by providers wanting to finalise visas under the old system.

移民局指出，年中申请的高峰是“始料未及”的，这是因为学校都希望在旧系统停用前完成学签的审理。