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New regulations in Australia impose higher fees for switching education providers and restrict family reunification to prevent visa hopping, with changes effective next year.
The shake-up will increase fees to switch courses and narrow options to prevent so-called 'visa-hopping'. Students switching education providers will have to pay a new visa fee, expected to cost about half the original visa fee.
New rules for international students are in force, aimed at stopping so-called 'visa-hopping' by limiting course changes and curtailing how family members can join them in Australia. Students wanting to change education providers will need to apply for a new visa, starting next year, which will cost over $2,000.will be partly fulfilled by closing onshore pathways from temporary visas to student visas, Assistant Citizenship Minister Julian Hill told a migration conference on Friday.
"People will no longer be able to apply for a student visa while in Australia from working holidaymaker visas, training visas, temporary employer visas and so on," he said. The plan includes banning student and graduate visa holders from bringing their families unless they are on government scholarships, PhD students or from Pacific and ASEAN countries. The new family rules mean that dependants can only be added after their visa is granted.
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"Families already in Australia will be grandfathered as an exception as the government is not in the business of breaking up families already here," Hill said. From July next year, students switching education providers will need to apply for a new visa, expected to cost about half the original visa fee, estimated at around $2,500. The new visa will retain the original end date and can only be issued if students move into equivalent or higher qualifications.
International students who swap courses will have to complete 12 months instead of the current six while the new visa regime is set up.
"Australia welcomes genuine students seeking a premium Australian education but the government will not back down from seeking to manage the size and the shape of the onshore student market," Hill said. Student visa rejections hit record levels in August at 35 per cent, up 12 per cent on the same month last year. Students can extend their visa to complete a course if they fall sick, fail a subject or their course provider goes out of business.
After completing a course, they can apply for a new student visa, but it must be ranked higher in the Australian Qualifications Framework . Moving from higher education to higher VET courses will not be allowed. Independent MP Allegra Spender told SBS News that temporary visa holders have grown from 1.8 million to 2.8 million in a decade, which is supported by Department of Home Affairs figures.
"International students bring enormous value. But in some universities their growth has coincided with a declining student experience.
"The government must get the settings right, and universities must build a shared campus life, so it's a genuine exchange. Limits to family visas for international students and restrictions on visa hopping are sensible. The question is why these settings are new," she said.
"Every migration choice is a trade-off, and Australians deserve a say in making them. The crossbench will take those trade-offs directly to our communities ... I suspect we'll find far more common ground than the loudest voices suggest.
" As a transition measure, transfers have been prevented within the first 12 months of commencing a principal course between now and 1 July 2027, when the new transfer visa comes into effect. Hill also said there will be a "sharpening focus of the skilled migration program" via two new ministerial directions that came into effect last week.
"Priority is now being given to healthcare, construction, teaching, resources, agriculture, aquaculture and fishing, helping direct skills to the parts of the economy where they are needed most," he said. Sign up now for daily news from Australia and around the world. You can also subscribe to Insight's weekly newsletter for in-depth features and first-person stories.
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