Its hard to believe, but yes! Australia has taken action to end visa hopping for internationals in the country who hold visitor and temporary graduate visas.

Starting July 1, 2024, Australia will no longer permit those who hold visitor and temporary graduate visas to continuously extend their stay in the country by by applying for a student visa while onshore.

Announcing the news, the Australian Minister for Home Affairs, Clare O’Neil, said that the news rules aim to restrict visa hoping and, at the same time, close the loopholes that have been permitting some groups of foreigners to remain in Australia for indefinite periods, in some cases.

The migration system we inherited was completely broken, and our goal is to build a smaller, better planned, more strategic migration system that works for Australia. Our Migration Strategy outlines a clear plan to close the loopholes in international education, and this is the next step in delivering that plan.

Australian Minister for Home Affairs, Clare O'Neil

Thus, it was further explained that by tightening the current rules, the government wants to ensure that visas are being granted to genuine students who aim to receive qualifications in Australia and then contribute to its economic growth.

To put an end to this practice, the government stressed that Temporary Graduate Visa holders should leave Australia or find skilled jobs and become permanent residents in the country.

This change makes it clear that graduates should be finding skilled jobs and becoming permanent residents, or departing the country when they are more likely to become ‘permanently temporary’.

the complete list of visa holders that will be unable to apply for a Student visa onshore are:

• Subclass 485 (Temporary Graduate)

• Subclass 600 (Visitor)

• Subclass 601 (Electronic Travel Authority)

• Subclass 602 (Medical Treatment)

• Subclass 651 (eVisitor)

• Subclass 771 (Transit)

• Subclass 988 (Maritime Crew)

• Subclass 995 (Diplomatic Temporary) – primary visa holders only

• Subclass 403 (Temporary Work) International Relations)) – Domestic Worker (Diplomatic or Consular) stream

• Subclass 426 (Domestic Worker (Temporary) – Diplomatic or Consular)

Source : https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/news-media/archive/article?itemId=1211