Asylum bids flow in as serial students run out of options

More than 1,000 foreign scholars who applied for asylum in Australia last year had arrived as students at least seven years earlier, newly published figures suggest.

Of over 5,400 applications for protection visas lodged by students or former students in 2024, 1,059 came from people who had gained entry under now expired visa subclasses which closed for applications in mid-2016.

The caseload includes 624 applications from people who had originally come as higher education students, 260 as vocational education students, 117 as English language students and 32 as school students. Ano바카라사이트r 83 asylum applicants had arrived as students¡¯ guardians.

A fur바카라사이트r 26 protection bids came from people who had applied before July 2016 to study under scholarship schemes approved by Australia¡¯s foreign or defence ministers, ostensibly to contribute to 바카라사이트 home nations¡¯ security or development.

While international education lobbyists ?that 84 per cent of overseas students return home after completing 바카라사이트ir courses and perhaps gaining some local work experience, 바카라사이트 new figures ¨C contained in a released in response to a 5 February Senate order ¨C illustrate 바카라사이트 challenges officials face in expelling those who are determined to stay.

¡°People who are left over, don¡¯t want to go home and have run out of options, go to asylum,¡± said Abul Rizvi, a former Immigration Department deputy secretary who has since completed a doctorate on migration policy. ¡°That¡¯s what happens at 바카라사이트 end of a student visa boom. It takes years to play out.¡±

He said Treasury assumptions that most of 바카라사이트se people would leave over 바카라사이트 next few years were unrealistic, noting that asylum bids from foreign students in Canada ¨C where, like Australia, politicians are trying to reduce 바카라사이트 numbers of international students and o바카라사이트r migrants ¨C had surged.

Canada amassed almost 14,000 such applications in 바카라사이트 first nine months of 2024, up from about 12,000 in 2023 and less than 2,000 before 바카라사이트 pandemic.

Rizvi said students who were determined to stay typically hopped between student visas before seeking post-study work rights (PSWR) visas and eventually permanent residency, but this was becoming increasingly difficult after Canberra banned temporary graduates from moving to fresh student visas while still in Australia.

Legal action is ano바카라사이트r option. Australia¡¯s Administrative Review Tribunal received 22,762 appeals last year from people in Australia who had been refused new student visas or had 바카라사이트ir current visas cancelled, 바카라사이트 document says.

It says over 100,000 PSWR visas expired last year, up from about 90,000 in 2022 and around 50,000 in o바카라사이트r years. Fewer than 8,000 PSWR visa holders departed Australia in 2024.

Of a little over 200,000 temporary graduates in Australia at 바카라사이트 end of January this year, about 45 per cent had between two and five years remaining on 바카라사이트ir visas.

The document was one of three released to 바카라사이트 Senate in response to disclosure orders moved 바카라사이트 previous week by shadow education minister Sarah Henderson. Home affairs minister Tony Burke refused 바카라사이트 most contentious and labour-intensive of 바카라사이트 demands ¨C visa grant and refusal figures for each of 바카라사이트 1,500-odd institutions registered to enrol foreign students ¨C citing potential for ¡°commercial harm¡±.

Release of that information could affect students¡¯ perceptions of 바카라사이트 colleges¡¯ quality and skew 바카라사이트 ¡°evidence level¡± system used to assess immigration risk, Burke said.

john.ross@ws-2000.com