Migrants who ‘hop’ between student visas have weaker labour market outcomes, meaning the government’s recent ban on visa-hopping is unlikely to result in a significant loss of talented migrants, new research by the e61 Institute has found.
The study compared the jobs and salaries of international students who got a second student visa and those who did not, finding that during their time as graduate visa holders, visa-hoppers:
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earn 20% less than other graduate visa holders on average
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earn 10% less than other graduate visa holders who work in the same occupation
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earn a similar salary to other graduate visa holders who return to their home country after their graduate visa expires
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are more likely to work in relatively lower-skilled occupations - such as retailers and hospitality workers compared to other graduate visa holders who transitioned to permanent visas.
“Our analysis shows that, although the gap has decreased in more recent years, student visa hoppers continue to earn less on average than international student graduates who obtained permanent residency,” said e61 Research Manager Silvia Griselda.
“Even comparing international students in the same occupations after they graduate, the ones who end up hopping between visas were the ones earning a lower wage”.
“This indicates that the ban on visa hopping will mostly affect lower-earning migrants, often employed in low-skilled jobs - and is unlikely to result in a loss of high-skilled migrants.”
“Encouraging lower-wage migrants to return home will raise the average skill of international graduates in Australia, allowing more of them to obtain permanent residency and deliver a significant economic benefit to Australia.”
The research also revealed that students from low-income countries are the most likely to visa-hop, especially those from Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, and Sri Lanka, followed by Vietnam and Indonesia.
The study found that visa hopping soared as it became harder to obtain permanent residency, with the share of visa hoppers among total graduate visa holders surging from about 2.5% in 2009 to over 25% in 2018.
“These findings support the argument that visa hoppers obtain second student visas to remain in a high-income country such as Australia in the hope of obtaining permanent residency, rather than for the sole purpose of further study,” said e61 PhD Internship Analyst Harshit Shah.
e61 Institute is a non-partisan economic research institute