Finance Minister Simon Birmingham has defended the government’s “careful, cautious” response to the Omicron variant amid uncertainty for international students and other visa holders.

250 university students from 15 nations, including Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, South Korea, China and Canada, have arrived in Sydney as part of a trial program with the federal government.

However, Commonwealth restrictions on reentry won’t officially be lifted until December 15, while travel from nine African countries will remain suspended indefinitely.

Mr Birmingham told Jim Wilson there’s still time for restrictions to be removed before the new university year begins.

“Right now, all indications are there should still be a high degree of confidence from our education providers, and from those students around the world wanting to come back to Australia, … that they’ll be able to do so.”

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