Australia is tightening its immigration system with new rules aimed at international students, backpackers and people who repeatedly switch between short-term visas, the government announced Thursday. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said the goal is to preserve immigration as a national strength while imposing a “high level of control” over who enters the country.
Under the changes, most foreign students will no longer be allowed to bring family members with them, though exceptions apply to those already in Australia, PhD candidates and applicants from Pacific and Southeast Asian nations. Officials will also crack down on “visa hopping,” a practice in which international students finish one course and enroll in another, often a lesser qualification, to prolong their stay. Students moving up to higher qualifications, such as from a bachelor’s to a master’s degree, will still be permitted.
Working holiday visas, widely used by young backpackers and vital to Australia’s agricultural workforce, will now be capped through a lottery system: 45,000 slots for a second year and just 5,000 for a third, both sharp reductions from previous totals. British travelers are exempt because of the UK-Australia free trade agreement.
The overhaul comes as Australia’s population climbs past 27.9 million and migration becomes an increasingly heated political issue amid housing and cost-of-living pressures. The government hopes to slow net overseas migration to 225,000 annually by 2028. Read the full report at the BBC for more details.
Source: International students, 'visa hoppers' and backpackers targeted in Australia migration crackdown (feeds.bbci.co.uk). English version produced with AI assistance.
Image: No machine-readable author provided. Kseferovic assumed (based on copyright claims)., BY-SA 3.0 (via Openverse).