Student visa applications haven't surged in the wake of China's snap ban on citizens learning online at foreign universities.
China's education ministry in late January told its citizens it would no longer recognise foreign degrees if online studying continued, forcing students to overseas campuses for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic started.
While the higher education sector warned of visa processing challenges, the home affairs department on Monday said the more-than-40,000 Chinese students returning to Australian universities already held visas.
Daily application rates had slightly increased since the announcement but weren't of concern or requiring priority, the department said.
"We're continuing to look closely for a surge but one isn't apparent at this time," senior immigration official Michael Willard told Senate estimates on Monday night.
Mr Willard said the education department was speaking with the Chinese authorities about the original edict and a series of subsequent announcements that provided exemptions.
Before international borders closed in 2020, Chinese students accounted for more than one-third of 67,000 onshore international students enrolled at universities that make up the Australian Technology Network of Universities.
Those universities include Curtin, Deakin, RMIT University, University of South Australia and University of Technology Sydney.
