AUSTRALIA is to crack down on poor international students entering the country, lifting the amount they must prove they have to support themselves by $6000 to $18,000 a year.

Canberra's move will cut the growing numbers of poorer international students, mainly from India, after being recruited by unscrupulous education agents chasing commissions from private vocational colleges.

As revealed by The Australian, the Department of Immigration is already cracking down on fraud among agents in India in which bogus documents are used to secure visas for students.

"International fee-paying education isn't for poor students -- scholarships are for poor students," said Paul Rodan, director of Central Queensland University's Melbourne-based International Education Research Centre. From next year, students applying for visas will have to prove they have at least $18,000 of their annual living costs, up from $12,000.

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The $12,000 requirement has not changed since 2001 and has been widely criticised for misleading students on the real costs of living in cities like Melbourne and Sydney. Immigration Minister Chris Evans said the requirement had been increased to better reflect the cost of living. "International students can supplement their income through part-time work in Australia, but the primary focus of a student visa is to study and students shouldn't rely on part-time work to meet their expenses," he said.

The government has also moved to make students displaced by a college collapse eligible for a refund on their $540 fee if they need to extend visas.

From next year, students caught up in the collapse of a college will be exempt from the visa renewal fee.