SYDNEY – Authorities in Australia have ended the Covid-era visa that permitted international students indefinite time to work.
The federal government has confirmed that the visa that benefited over 20,000 international students to work an unlimited amount of hours is being phased out.
Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil and Immigration Minister Andrew Giles have announced that the Pandemic Event visa (subclass 408) will be unavailable to all new applicants from Saturday, September 2.
It bears mentioning that the existing visa holders will remain lawful until the expiry of their existing visa, with the ability to extend it for another six months for $405; however, from February 2024, the visa will be closed to all applicants.
The special category of visa was introduced in 2020 to support international students who were stranded in Australia during the pandemic. The visa also helped Australia to fill labor shortages as the borders were closed at that time.
The recent figures from Home Affairs confirm that over 17,000 students were given 408 visas in 2022. In 2021, only around 3,000 students got such visas.
“The Pandemic Event visa was an important part of Australia’s visa system during the pandemic. Many people on temporary visas helped Australia during this period,” Minister Andrew Giles said in a statement.
“We’re providing an opportunity for people who hold a Pandemic Event visa to explore another visa option, or plan to leave Australia,” he said.
In another painful development for the visa holders, the government has confirmed that people who were not eligible for another visa would have to leave the country.
“This will provide certainty to our visa system now that the circumstances that drove the operation of the [Pandemic Event] visa no longer exist,” a statement said.
As the Covid-era visa has been scrapped, the authorities have also reintroduced a limit on the number of hours international students can work.
Since July 1, the work hours have been restricted to 48 hours per fortnight; moreover, the government has also ended work exemptions for Working Holiday Visa holders.
“These measures combined place downward pressure on Net Overseas Migration, which continues to rebound post-pandemic,” the statement said.
On the other hand, pro-student advocates have resisted the move and have said that loans and the rising cost of living put pressure on students who could work extended hours earlier.
