The Australian government has announced new restrictions on international students transferring courses, aiming to cut net overseas migration from almost 300,000 a year to 225,000 by 2028. Students will need a separate visa to switch courses. Until the new rules take effect, they can’t transfer within 12 months of starting a course.
The changes target student visa transfers within Australia’s migration system. The government says they aim to curb what it calls “permanently temporary” migration. They build on existing rules that stop students moving to a lower-grade course, such as switching from a bachelor’s or master’s degree to a vocational program.
The Transfer Rules
Assistant minister for international education Julian Hill said the rules would make it harder to “course hop.” Speaking to the Migration Institute of Australia, Hill said: “When Australians go to another country they do not believe they have some God-given right to hop around from visa to visa for years or decades and game other nations’ appeals and courts systems – and neither should guests in our country.”
Home affairs minister Tony Burke said in a social media post that the new rules aimed to end “student visa hopping” and ensure Australians could have confidence in the migration system. Burke announced last month that students could transfer only to courses of equal or higher value.
From 1 July 2027, a student’s visa won’t be extended if they transfer to a different course, Hill said. He said the measure would prevent “rorting and ensures students can’t just not turn up for the first 6 months, fail their subjects then go to a cheaper provider”.
The government also proposes restrictions on migration agents who help with applications they “know, or reasonably ought to know, does not have a reasonable factual or legal basis.” Hill said the Department of Home Affairs would consult on whether migration lawyers could face accountability for similar practices.
Agents, Lawyers and Applications
Hill said “a small number of bad actors” caused disproportionate harm by targeting people vulnerable to “misleading claims, false promises and unrealistic assurances.” He said: “Taking cash in those circumstances is not helping people – it’s exploiting them and selling false hope.”
Hill described a case involving one lawyer who submitted an application intending it to be refused, appealed to the administrative appeals tribunal, then sought ministerial intervention after a further refusal. He also criticized online advertisements by lawyers. Some, he said, appeared to coach people to claim they were bisexual or persecuted when they were not, to support a protection claim.
Hill said the current system for lawyers “authorises and arguably requires them to act for clients in ways that damage the administration of and public confidence in Australia’s migration system.” The government’s proposed accountability rules would extend its crackdown beyond student course transfers to some help with migration applications.
Migration Targets and Political Constraints
The restrictions are part of a wider package intended to lower net overseas migration. Labor wants to cut the annual figure from almost 300,000 to 225,000 by 2028. The government has changed rules without separate legislation because it lacks support from the Coalition or the Greens.
More than 400,000 people hold bridging visas. These temporary visas can go to people whose visa expires while they wait for a decision on another application, or to asylum seekers and non-citizens. The government is trying to reduce the total, which includes a large cohort of international students seeking a different visa.
Hill broadly agreed with NSW premier Chris Minns’ comments that too many people came into Australia in too short a space of time after Covid, though he said there were “a couple of nuanced points.” Employers including cafes, farmers and businesses sought workers after the government took office in 2022, when Australia had its lowest unemployment in more than 50 years, Hill said. He said net overseas migration peaked “a bit too high” after the border reopened and fell “a bit too slowly” because fewer people were leaving.
The figure has fallen by about 50% from its peak, Hill said. It needs to decline further “to get back to a sensible balance and give housing a chance to catch up.”