‘60 hours per week’: Student’s visa cancelled at airport after discovery on phone

An international student has had his visa torn up at the airport after Border Force officers made a concerning discovery on his phone.

An international student has had his visa torn up at the airport after Border Force officers made a concerning discovery on his phone.

A viral post shared on Threads over the weekend shows a document reportedly provided to the student by Border Force officials after his visa was cancelled upon arrival at Adelaide Airport this month, where he admitted to working up to 60 hours per week for Uber while studying.

International students are only permitted to work up to 48 hours per fortnight.

The man, who was not identified, arrived in Australia on a subclass 500 student visa, originally granted in 2022 when he enrolled in a Bachelor of Information Technology course before ceasing his studies in July that year.

The student’s visa was cancelled after a phone search. Picture: Threads

He then completed a Certificate III in Carpentry between October 2022 and September 2024, and in December enrolled in a Graduate Diploma of Management (Learning), the document shows.

“During a baggage examination on arrival, the visa holder stated to Australian Border Force (ABF) officers that he is aware of the conditions of his visa, and how many hours he is allowed to work,” the document states.

“The visa holder admitted that he consistently worked more than 48 hours per fortnight while his course of study was in session. An examination of his mobile phone was conducted by an officer authorised to conduct digital device examinations under s252 of the Migration Act.”

Section 252 of the Migration Act allows Border Force officers to conduct searches of non-citizens’ property, including electronic devices, if they have “reasonable grounds for suspecting there are reasonable grounds for cancelling the person’s visa”.

“Located on his mobile phone were images of the hours the visa holder worked while driving for Uber,” the document states.

“During a formal interview with ABF officers, the visa holder agreed that he stated to officers at the baggage bench, that during March and April of 2024, he was working 50-60 hours per week when his course of study was in session. Earning statements from the Uber app on your mobile phone, support this.”

He had just arrived at Adelaide Airport. Picture: Brenton Edwards

In one two-week period last March, according to his Uber records, the man worked a total of 66 hours.

A spokeswoman for the Home Affairs Department said, “For privacy reasons, the Department cannot comment on individual cases.”

The post has received hundreds of comments on Threads, with some users defending the man and expressing concern.

“Australia is super strict now,” one wrote.

“Hey there may I ask why do they check your phone?” another asked.

“But the main question is how did they learn of it magically upon his arrival? Something’s fishy,” a third said.

Some suggested racism was to blame.

“He’s probably brown or black, they rarely check white people’s phones upon arrival except for non-white [sic], because you look ‘suspicious’. I’ve seen it many times,” one said.

But many supported the tough enforcement.

“So … what’s the point of this post? Complaining that someone broke very clearly prescribed rules, and then suffered the equally very clearly prescribed consequences? Unsure what you’re going for here, mate,” one person said.

Another added, “LOL, on student visa and working 50-60 hours a week. That’s not a student my dude, that’s full-time employed.”

“Great! We don’t need more Uber drivers who study commercial cookery,” a third said.

One noted the “rules were relaxed during Covid” and “it seems some people thought they could continue to get away with it”.

“A bunch of people in his situation are continuing to FAFO,” they said.

The man admitted driving up to 60 hours per week for Uber. Picture: iStock

Australia had 1,108,799 international student enrolments in the year to September 2024, according to the latest Education Department figures published in December, a 16 per cent increase on the same period in 2019 prior to Covid.

The actual number of foreign students in the country — as some enrol in more than one course — also hit a record high in September at just under 825,000.

Growth in enrolments compared to 2019 was highest in the VET sector at 42 per cent. Year-to-date September commencements were the highest on record at 495,469, which was 14 per cent higher than 2019.

The biggest source was China (22 per cent), followed by India (16 per cent), Nepal (8 per cent, the Philippines (5 per cent) and Vietnam (4 per cent).

Australia’s troubled vocational education sector has long been plagued by an epidemic of fake international students who come largely to work.

Many abuse the system by applying to a university — considered the lowest-risk providers requiring the least amount of evidence to prove genuine study intent — before dropping out and taking up a no-show VET course at so-called “ghost colleges”.

The Albanese government announced in August that around 150 ghost colleges had been shut down and another 140 issued warning notices by the regulator.

Following the August announcement, Punjab-based newspaper The Tribune published a sympathetic article about the “bleak future” faced by affected students after paying thousands of dollars in fees.

“The students know that the college admission is a mere formality and that they are free to work there till they get residency,” one migration agent told the newspaper.

Latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) revealed the country brought in 446,000 net overseas migrants in the 2023-24 financial year, down from the record of 536,000 in 2022-23 but well above the Albanese government’s target of 395,000.

Of those, international students were the largest group on 207,000, while India was the top source of migrants.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton has pledged to cut migration to “sustainable” levels and “set stricter caps on foreign students” if the Coalition wins this year’s federal election.

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Originally published as ‘60 hours per week’: Student’s visa cancelled at airport after discovery on phone