Countries Reopening Borders For International Students

​The pandemic lockdown has led to global havoc, impacting every facet of life including education. It's been a long time since students studying abroad have been able to return to their campuses and resume classroom education as normal. The good news is that students longing for this chance has finally arrived. With the decrease in the number of cases, some countries have decided to reopen their borders and invite international students to return to their campuses. Let's take a look at the timeline and rules of travelling to international countries for students!

Australia

Australia closed its borders for international travelling during the wake of coronavirus pandemic, with only a handful of exceptions. On May 8th, country's Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the three-stage framework for reopening the country, which would allow international students to return and resume their education normally. However, with the spurting growth in the number of cases, the plan was withheld and it wasn't until July that Australian students stranded off-shore were allowed admission back to the country. Luckily, the cases have now come to a stage of rapid decline which indicates a thumbs-up for students. According to the reports, students may be able to cross the borders by October 2020. This will be followed by stringent rules of institutional quarantine, especially for those who come from highly contaminated zones.

Canada

Canada, achieving a magnificent control over this pandemic, has allowed the admission of international students to the country. According to the Official Canadian government website, any international student with a valid student permit is exempted from travel restrictions after October 20^th,  2020, provided their designated learning institution (DLI) has an approved COVID-19 readiness plan in place and has been approved by the provincial or territorial government. It should however be kept in mind that no student showing symptoms of COVID-19 will be allowed to travel to the country by air. Even if there are no signs, the student will have to be quarantined for 14-days from the day of arrival to rule out any chances of contamination. It is best to buy student travel insurance before travelling to avoid any risks during the travel so that you can stay in quarantine hassle-free in case of any loss.

Austria

Austria has opened its borders for international students on June 16, 2020. However, only students from 31 countries are authorized to cross the borders which mostly includes European nations. The exception to this is countries with very high contamination record, that is, the United Kingdon, Sweden, Spain, and Portugal. Students from authorized countries can enter the borders without any tests or necessary quarantine period, however, one-week quarantine is still recommended.

China

China has recently announced that the international borders will open for air travelling to the national capital. The country has announced international flights from 8 nations: