Australia Cracks Down on Visa Hopping and Migration Misconduct

The Government of Australia has launched a comprehensive crackdown on migration system misconduct and student visa abuse to reduce net overseas migration to 225,000 by 2028. Assistant Minister for Citizenship Julian Hill announced proposed changes to the industry code of conduct that would ban migration agents from assisting with applications lacking a reasonable factual or legal basis. This replaces a previous protocol that allowed futile applications if the client provided written acknowledgment.

Minister Hill identified a pattern of lawyers coaching clients to make false claims regarding sexual orientation or persecution to secure protection visas, describing such actions as a misuse of the system for profit. To combat this, the government is establishing a taskforce to disrupt fake agents operating via social media and coordinating with Attorney-General Michelle Rowland to address regulatory gaps concerning legal practitioners.

Simultaneously, the government is targeting visa hopping among international students. New rules require students to apply for separate visas to transfer courses and prohibit such transfers within the first 12 months of a program. By July 1, 2027, student visas will no longer be extended during course transfers. Other measures include adding 250 beds to detention centers to increase the departure of overstayers and reducing the number of unlawful non-citizens, currently estimated at 77,000.

Greens Senator David Shoebridge criticized the measures as a hard-line approach that harms vulnerable migrants, while the Coalition has called for even deeper cuts to migration numbers.