The government has announced new measures to reduce “visa hopping” in Australia’s migration system, as a further step toward implementing its commitments under the Migration Strategy released in December 2023. From 1 July 2024, visitor and graduate visa holders can no longer apply for a student visa onshore.
These changes will close a pathway for tourist visa holders to prolong their stay in Australia and bypassing offshore student visa integrity measures. The changes will also direct temporary graduate visa holders towards skilled employment opportunities in Australia, as opposed to reverting to study and becoming ‘permanently temporary’ visa holders in Australia. Complementary measures such as significantly reduced upper age limits, shorter post-study work rights and increased English language requirements in respect of this cohort of visa holders are also being implemented.
Our take:
- As the subclass 482 visa is set to reduce the ‘recent’ work experience requirement from two years to one in November this year, some graduate visa holders may not be overly disadvantaged by the new changes
- In the long term, the new changes will dramatically reduce the volume of superfluous cases lodged with the administrative review body and consequent backlog which hinders its proper functioning
For more information, read the full announcement here.
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