485 & Tourist visa holder no longer able to apply for student visas onshore from 1 July

ENDING 'VISA HOPPING' IN THE MIGRATION SYSTEM
A key commitment in the Migration Strategy, released last year, was to restrict 'visa hopping - ending the loopholes that allow students and other temporary visa holders to continuously extend their stay in Australia, in some cases indefinitely.
As noted in the Migration Strategy, the numbers of international students staying in Australia on a second, or subsequent student visa has grown by over 30 per cent to more than 150,000 in 2022-23.
Peter McDonald, a renowned Australian demographer, recently said that severely curtailing visa hopping by accepting fewer visa applications from people already in the country would better manage population growth than cuts to the permanent migration intake.
The Government has already taken action to address this, by using no further stay conditions on visitor visas and through the Genuine Student requirement implemented in March which has stopped thousands of students from hopping from student visa to student visa unless there is credible course progression. This complements more than a dozen other policies already implemented that are helping restore integrity in the international student system, such as ending unrestricted work rights and the former Government's COVID visa.
On 1 July, the Albanese Government is taking this a step further.
Firstly, Visitor Visa holders will not be able to apply for Student Visas onshore. The visitor to student pathway has become increasingly prevalent, with over 36,000 applications since 1 July 2023 to the end of May 2024.
This measure closes a pathway that has been used to attempt to subvert the Government's strengthened offshore student visa integrity measures.
#students #australia