The Australian government has declared that Pandemic Event
visas, specifically Subclass 408, will no longer be issued after February 2024.
Many foreign students and temporary workers who depended on this visa to extend
their stay in Australia are anticipated to be impacted by the decision.
The Subclass 408 visa was created during the COVID-19 pandemic to help international students who were unable to leave Australia owing to travel restrictions and to meet the labour shortage. It permitted repeated entries and departures from Australia and extended their stay by 12 months past the original expiration of their visa.
Clare O'Neil, the minister of home affairs, and Andrew
Giles, the minister of immigration, jointly announced the Subclass 408 visa's
probable termination.
“From February 2024, the visa will
be closed to all applicants. This will provide certainty to our visa system now
that the circumstances that drove the operation of the visa no longer exist,” Minister O’Neil announced.
To preserve the integrity of visas and accept applications
for Pandemic Event visas, the Australian government has put in place temporary
procedures. Only current visa holders may apply beginning September 2, 2023,
and new applicants must pay a charge of AUD405 in order to prevent abuse of
their six-month visa. Those who have valid Pandemic Event visas may stay in
Australia until they expire, but those who are unable to get new ones must
depart. The Subclass 408 visa, which permitted unlimited work hours and
exemptions for Working Holiday visas, was no longer issued by the government.
Around 60,000 international students and temporary workers used the 65,859 Pandemic Event visas that were issued between June 2022 and March 2023 to extend their stays. Additionally, the government eliminated a gap in visa regulations that permitted international students to enrol in less priced vocational programmes.
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