Australia Checks Visa Hopping, Canada Stops Work Permits at Port of Entry

Starting 1 Jul, Australia will tighten student visa rules to stop visa hopping. Temporary visa holders, such as those on temporary graduate visas, visitor visas, electronic travel authority visa, medical treatment visa, eVisitor visa, transit visa, diplomatic temporary visa, temporary work visa (international relations), and domestic worker (temporary) visa, will no longer be able to apply for a student visa while within Australia. Candidates will have to go out of Australia to apply for a student visa. According to the Australian govt. data, in 2022, 100,009 Indian students were enrolled in Australian institutions. According to a report from a few years back, about 40% of these students are from Panjab and there is a big number on other visas who also apply for student visas. These measures aim to ensure student visas are granted to those genuinely intending to study in Australia and contribute to the economy. From 21 Jun, Canada too has prohibited foreign nationals seeking a post-graduation work permit to apply at a port of entry which could be airport, land, or marine border. Border services officers have been instructed not to process post-graduation work permit applications made on entry to Canada. A candidate can apply for a post-graduation work permit (PGWP) from inside Canada or from another country, as long as they are eligible. Meanwhile, after earlier suspending their hunger strike upon assurance by authorities, foreign students in Canada's Prince Edward Island (PEI) have mounted another hunger strike as they protest the looming expiration of their work permits. The protesters, including from Panjab, are demanding that the PEI govt. extend their work permits, offering them an eventual pathway to permanent residency (SDW Vol 2 Issue 23, Story 9).