Data from the Department of Home Affairs shows that the number of bridging visas has again blown out to 286,293 as of March 2024:
The AFR reports that the rise in bridging visas is being driven by rising student visa refusal rates for people who are already in Australia, which has caused a spike in appeals to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT).
In the year to May, there have been 15,374 appeals to the AAT, of which half – 7703 – are student visa related. That compares to 2022-23 when there were 9258 appeals in total and just 20 per cent – 1868 – were student visa related…
“This is likely to be the result of the removal of unrestricted work rights plus additional funding for immigration compliance work”, Abul Rizvi said.
“If the application rate remains around 3000 per month, the backlog will continue to grow strongly. That would undermine the government’s policy to reduce net migration”, he said.
The rise in visa refusal rates is illustrated by the following chart from Justin Fabo at Antipodean Macro:
Rejected applicants switching to bridging visas and extending their stays in Australia are undermining the federal government’s crackdown against dodgy student visas by clogging up the appeals process.
It is also being facilitated by dodgy migration agents, who are facilitating appeals to the AAT:
Australian Government: “We’re cutting the number of foreign students.”
Migration agents: “LOL, LMAO” pic.twitter.com/ygNNFecMiz
— Dr. J Walter Sparkey 💉💉💉💉 (@ockerincel77) June 10, 2024
“What I have heard is that in the last few weeks, there has been a spike in refusals, especially for onshore student visa applications”.
“This was probably applicants that held some other temporary visa prior”…
“The refusal rates are huge. But what I want to say is, do remember there is an appeal process”.
“To be honest, I think if you do get a refusal, it’s not the end of the world. You can always appeal the decision to the AAT”.
“You can continue studying and working while you appeal that decision and you wait for the hearing date”…
“You are still able to stay in Australia and study. You might be on a bridging visa while you wait for the AAT”.
“So, if you travel, you might need to apply for another bridging visa”.
“So, if you do get the student visa refusal, speak to an agent and lawyer. You can definitely appeal the process and still plan your pathway afterwards”.
“I’ve worked for applicants where they lodge a student visa, got refused, they appealed it, continued studying and doing other things, and they still got their PR invitation during the process”.
Adding to the farce, migration agents are included on the skilled occupation list, whereas many trades have been excluded:
The federal parliament passed laws in May to establish the Administrative Review Tribunal, which will take over as the principal reviewer of government decisions from the ailing AAT.
The AAT has faced criticism for its delayed handling of the visa appeals process.
Hopefully, the new Administrative Review Tribunal will do a better job of rejecting spurious immigration requests submitted by migration agencies.
