Heading into 2024, Subclass 500 Student visa and 485 Temporary Graduate visa reforms are both set to take effect — some in early 2024, some mid-2024 — with no firm dates announced yet.
Of course, when the new policies were announced late last year, they triggered considerable controversy。
For example, the lowering of the 485 visa age cap from 50 to 35。
There are currently around 23,500 PhD international students enrolled，and 40% of them were already over 30 when they started their degree. The new policy is also particularly unfavourable to female international students pursuing a Master’s, because they are more likely — due to work and family commitments — to begin postgraduate study at an older age.
Professor Ly Tran of Deakin University’s School of Education said that the change in age requirement will mean large numbers of PhD candidates become ineligible for the 485 visa — and therefore miss out on the permanent migration pathway — despite being among the most desirable potential migrants. Meanwhile, Australia is competing for global talent, with Canada, the UK, the US, China and Japan all actively leveraging international education to support their economies.
“”Other policies are aimed at improving Australia’s attractiveness to research talent, and at using highly skilled graduates to help meet workforce demand and support economic growth. The change to the 485 age cap is inconsistent with those other policies.””
One Master’s student aged over 35 said that being able to obtain paid work after graduation was one of the primary reasons he chose Australia as his study destination — and his plans have now been seriously disrupted.
Our “old friend”migration expert Abul Rizvi Rizvi said the current 50-year age limit is too high — most skilled migration categories cap eligibility at 45, meaning anyone genuinely starting study at that age would struggle to secure permanent residency.But for PhD candidates, 35 really is too low。
He argues the age cap should be set so applicants are not seriously disadvantaged when they later apply for skilled migration — so he considers 40 to be more reasonable，That threshold would give applicants time to graduate, gain relevant work experience, and then apply for permanent residency before turning 45.
He also believes the new (age) rule is unlikely to apply to students already enrolled, since those students clearly had 485 eligibility at the time they commenced study. “”Otherwise, it would become extremely complex both legally and administratively.””
In a response to the MIA (Migration Institute of Australia), the Department of Home Affairs noted that PhD candidates make up only a very small share of the total international student cohort, and that most PhD graduates do not need to use the 485 visa.
But as the cases above illustrate, this policy affects not just PhD candidates — it is also highly unfavourable to older Master’s students, arguably the most disadvantaged group of all. As Abul Rizvi said, change may well be needed — but could the specific settings and implementation be made more realistic? We hope the situation will turn around, or at least that his view — that the change is unlikely to apply to students already studying — will prevail.
Labor’s tightening of the 485 Temporary Graduate visa may not be as sweeping as feared — the government has repeatedly reiterated that its primary aim is to reduce NOM (Net Overseas Migration) by restricting temporary visas. International students are a far larger cohort than international graduates.
In November 2023, the number of onshore student visa holders in Australia began to decline. Numbers dropped from a September peak of 664,178 to 612,099 in November — a fall of nearly 50,000.
This is “”thanks to”” the Department of Home Affairs presumably slowing down student visa processing, with grants also lower than the same period in 2022. November offshore grants fell by 3,000 — a decline of 11.7%.7%. Note that this does not mean the grant RATE fell by 11.7%. — it’s the NUMBER of grants that dropped.
As the chart below shows, offshore lodgements in November remained robust. Offshore student visa applications from China and Vietnam rose 46% and 39% respectively, while the sharpest declines came from Nepal and Colombia.
Abul Rizvi also commented on recent student visa grant rates, noting that one driver of the decline is the Department’s tougher scrutiny of applications from certain regions and countries.
Onshore lodgements in November totalled 12,408 — around 2,000 fewer than in 2022 — but the overall grant rate dropped from 99.6%. to 90.1%.. This is also linked to the government’s crackdown on onshore course-hopping and successive student visa extensions.
From the second half of 2023 onwards, student visa processing has genuinely tightened — particularly for offshore applications. Documentation must be as complete as possible; don’t keep assuming the student visa is easy. Even more pronounced, however, is how slow processing has become — over the past two weeks a large number of our clients have had their student visas granted in quick succession, lodged anywhere from August to November. For August/September lodgements, that’s a 3–4 month wait — quite ridiculous./
For the foreseeable future, the Subclass 500 student visa is likely to remain in this somewhat unpredictable state. If you’re planning to study in Australia in the second half of 2024, get in touch and apply now! Allow extra lead time for both the offer and the visa assessment so you don’t end up having to defer.
Students who need help with a school offer or student visa are welcome to contact us! We can also provide a comprehensive assessment of your overall study-and-migration plan.
A selection of Subclass 500 student visa grants from the past week or two
Late 2023 to early 2024
A selection of top-university offers secured through our lodgements
Previous articles
2024 is the ““golden age”” of this work-migration visa! The core questions you need to know!
Multiple early-2023 190 and 491 grants; 189 continues to clear the December 2022 backlog!
Skills assessment with no English test and no work experience required after graduation — 65 points to get invited. A hidden-gem study-and-migration major!
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