Australia immigration crackdown: visas for international students and backpackers targeted

International students, so-called “visa hoppers” and backpackers will be targeted under stricter rules announced by Australia on Thursday in a bid to curb immigration.

Foreign students will no longer be able to bring their families with them and those who want to extend their stay must choose a higher qualification.

Rules will also be stricter for working holiday visas – commonly used by backpackers and a crucial labour source for the agricultural sector – with a ballot system although these changes will not affect the UK.

The new rules were revealed by Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke who said that while immigration was a “strength” of Australia, there needed to be a “high level of control”.

For international student and graduate visas, Burke said: “We will no longer be adding to the stock of students automatically being able to bring family members over.”

There would be exemptions for foreign students already in Australia as well as applicants from the Pacific and South East Asian countries, he said.

PhD students would also be able to bring their families as they were in different life circumstances to undergraduates, Burke said.

In a speech titled “The work of managing the migration program: who arrives, who stays, who leaves”, Burke revealed a raft of changes as the government aims to bring net overseas migration to 225,000 people by 2028.

On student visas, he said the government would clamp down on “visa hopping” – where a student finishes a course, then applies to do another course which is often a lower qualification and sometimes with a “not so legitimate provider”.

Students who want to go “up the scale” will be allowed, Burke said, for example, if a student finishes a bachelor’s degree and then wants to complete a masters.

He also announced major changes to working holiday visas for those aged 18 to 30 years old who can work in Australia for 12 months, but can extend for a second and third year.

Currently, these visa holders must work for three months in regional Australia during their first year to qualify for a second year, and then six months to qualify for a third year.

Under the new changes, those who qualify for a second year will have to go into a ballot with a cap of 45,000, down from the 57,000 who qualified last year.

For the third year, the ballot will be limited to 5,000, down from 31,000 who qualified last year. British working holidaymakers will not be affected by these changes due to the UK’s free trade agreement with Australia.

New figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Thursday showed Australia’s population grew 1.4% in the 12 months to March 2026 to 27.9m.

That total figure included births and deaths as well as a net overseas migration of 292,100.

Migration remains a major political issue as debate around Australia’s population grows amid rising living costs, housing affordability and increased strain on public services.

One Nation, a populist right-wing party known for its anti-immigration stance and which has seen a surge in support in recent months, detailed its migration policy earlier this week, proposing to cut temporary migrant visas by 750,000 over three years.

The party, which won its first lower house seat in May, also wants to cap net overseas immigration to 130,000, drawing a rebuke from Burke who said such a proposal would risk “smashing parts of the Australian economy”.

In July, the government introduced a policy to prioritise applications for family visas lodged onshore – where the applicant is in the country already – over those submitted overseas.

Skilled migrants already in Australia who applied for permanent visas were also prioritised over those applying from overseas.

It also paused applications for working holiday visas from 24 countries, not including the UK.

Violet Roumeliotis, from Settlement Services International which helps new arrivals to Australia, says the migration debate was increasingly driven by “short-term politics rather than what is best for the country”.

“The proposed changes to family visas for international students is a good example of this,” she said, adding that it would make it harder for Australia to compete for “future talent”.