Many student visa holders in Australia over the last year have been fortunate enough to take advantage of the Government’s amnesty on enforcing the 40-hour work limitation. However, it is foreseeable that overseas students who have been working full time throughout the amnesty might end up struggling to meet course requirements.

This is extremely important as all overseas students will have condition 8202(2)(c) imposed on their visa, a breach of wehich can lead to visa cancellation. This condition states that an overseas student must not have their education provider report that they have not met satisfactory course progress or course attendance requirements. Minimum attendance is 80%, and there is no amnesty on this requirement like there is with the work limitation.

In 2017, 480 visas were cancelled for breach of Condition 8202. This increased to more than 1200 cancellations per annuam for both 2018 and 2019 . For full-time studnets, the additonal pressures of full time work and overtime, will almost certainly result in even higher numbers of cancellations for breach of this Condition.

If this happens to you, or you are contacted by Home Affairs threatening to cancel your visa, reach out to Longton Legal immediately.

*Disclaimer: This is intended as general information only and not to be construed as legal advice. The above information is subject to changes over time. You should always seek professional advice beforetaking any course of action.*