Yesterday’s release of the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) Provider Update – October 2024 signals a return to “business as usual visa processing”, post-revocation of Ministerial Direction 107.
The Government has said that it will revoke MD107 once the Education Services for Overseas Students (ESOS) Amendment (Quality and Integrity) Bill 2024 has been legislated. Currently, MD107 directs DHA officials to prioritise visa processing based on the evidence levels of education providers, rather than on the order that visa applications are received.
This announcement by DHA indicates a return to the simplified student visa framework (SSVF) settings that existed prior to the introduction of MD107 in October 2023.
This clarity will be welcomed by the sector, as there has been some concern and confusion in the sector about what will happen once MD107 is revoked.
On 6 September, Tara Cavanagh, Group Manager, Immigration Policy, Department of Home Affairs told a Senate Committee hearing into the ESOS Amendment Bill that, “The way an MD works, under the legal framework that we operate in, is that if a minister wants to change or vary or remove an MD they need to do it through the issuance of a new MD, if that makes sense”.
That led to speculation about what would replace MD107, including whether SSVF would be replaced.
The other thing that has concerned the sector, if there is a return to SSVF is that DHA would start to process the oldest caseload first. This would potentially mean a caseload of more complex or problematic applications, which is why they have been in the system for a long time. This would possibly lead to delays in processing visa applications for the start of 2025, as there are no additional resources being provided to DHA to process the visa caseload.
However, DHA seeks to reassure providers in the Update that it has “reduced the offshore visa caseload by more than half since June 2024, and now has a low onhand caseload for offshore”.
Leading it to say that “This positions the department well to move to business as usual visa processing once MD107 is removed”.
DHA takes the opportunity to remind the sector that the “planned introduction of the NPL and removal of MD107 do not diminish the need to maintain integrity in the Student visa program”.
