There is more pain to come for students as institutions move to protect their immigration rating.
A source told the Koala last night that several institutions are moving to not accepting applications from onshore students who may be here on another temporary visa.
The source spoke of three universities that are no longer accepting applications from students holding other temporary visas, such as s/c 600 (Tourist), 485 (Temporary graduate) and 408 (COVID Event). While another will not accept any applications from visitor visa holders who are converting to s/c 500.
The Koala reached out to one institution in question and was told (on the proviso of anonymity):
“We are responding to the migration strategy in relation to ‘visa hopping’ which the government is focussing on to address permanent temporariness. In the strategy, Temporary Graduate Visas are specifically highlighted where a restriction to transfer back to a student visa onshore will apply.
In relation to working holiday, work and holiday and tourist visas, we have taken the decision to proactively respond by restricting onshore applications based on the migration strategy, foreshadowing ‘other changes to restrict onshore visa hopping, where it circumvents offshore processes’ will potentially occur in early 2024’.
We have been told verbally by DHA students that students transferring from a tourist visa to a student visa onshore will be heavily scrutinised in 2024. Therefore, we are pre-empting what we believe will lead to visa refusals for onshore applicants and mitigating this issue in a risk averse manner.”
While the new genuine student test has yet to be announced, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist or an immigration official to tell you that there is a two-track system currently being employed in immigration: the rules as they stand and the rules that ain’t the rules but soon may well be.
In any case, if you’ve come to Australia for a holiday, think it’s a great place and want to study here, it would appear to be ‘thanks but no thanks’.
