Overseas students able to extend stay by ‘gaming the system’

Surging overseas student numbers have driven net overseas migration to more than 240,000 a year.

Bob Birrell, head of The Australian Population Research Institute, warned that international students could game the immigration system to extend their stay for years.

Surging overseas student numbers have driven net overseas migration to more than 240,000 a year, putting downward pressure on wages and pushing up accommodation costs in major cities.

While the government has reined in the permanent immigration intake to 163,000, student visa approvals have risen rapidly from about 278,000 in 2010-11 to more than 374,000 in 2016-17.

Amid growing debate over the nation’s immigration intake, Bob Birrell of the Australian Population Research Institute warned that international students could game the immigration system to extend their stay for years.

“You can switch from student, to post-student visa, to a tourist visa, to a working holiday visa — it’s a roundabout,” he told The Australian.

“People who want to stay, perhaps to prepare for a permanent residency application, or because they want to stay in the labour market here, they can do that.”

Dr Birrell said overseas students able to work for 20 hours a week were the “elephant in the room” in their effect on the labour and housing markets.

 

“It is the major factor driving poor working conditions and low wages in the entry-level labour market area, particularly hospitality, retail, and service areas like cleaning where the employer holds the whip hand,” he said.

“As far as infrastructure is concerned, when you’ve got some 240,000 net migration, the population is growing by 1.7 per cent, it is the major factor in driving the backlogs. In Melbourne and Sydney, most of the population growth now, over 100,000 a year, is due to net overseas migration.”

As Malcolm Turnbull claimed credit yesterday for lowering the permanent migrant intake, former prime minister Tony Abbott focused on the high level of net overseas migration.

“Last year net overseas migration, which is the total migration numbers, was still 240,000. So we have got to bring it down pretty sharply if we are going to start getting the downward pressure off wages, if we are going to take the upward pressure off housing prices, if we are going to unclog our infrastructure.”

Bill Shorten also went on the attack over the growing number of temporary visa holders in Australia. “What they don’t tell everyone is that under the Liberals, the number of people coming here temporarily with visas that give them work rights in Australia has blown out to 1.6 million people. This is an increase of about 200,000,” the Opposition Leader said.