Big surge in student visas: Pete Wargent

The Department of Home Affairs released the latest temporary entrants visa holders which are always worth a squint. 

The number of bridging visas continued its apparently endless increase to record highs, representing the surge in temporary migrants looking to extend their stays on another visa type. 

But the most striking move year-on-year was the +77,000 increase in international student visas to a stock total of 613,000.

Student visas have increased by +48% or +200,000 over the past five years, adding substantially to the capital city populations.

An interesting sub-plot is the steady but determined increase in the number of students obtaining graduate visas, granting them permission to join the labour force for two to three years (many of these will then surely become permanent residents in due course). 

Over the past year the number of temporary entrant visa holders increased by +92,000 to a record high of 2,322,000.

And over the past five years the increase has been a thumping +430,000 or +23%. 

Australia's estimated resident population has ballooned to 25,386,400.

It's always worth considering that some temporary visa holders might be inclined to depart in the event of severe downturn in economic fortunes.

On the other hand Kiwis may be inclined to remain in situ, depending upon what's playing out across the Tasman, students would presumably keep studying, and a lower Aussie dollar might also boost demand for visitor visas, so it's not quite as clear cut as it first appears.

In the end, there is just a helluva lot of demand for Australia Inc. and over the years this has been consistently reflected in surging visa numbers and massive growth in the estimated resident population. 

PETE WARGENT is the co-founder of AllenWargent property buyers (London, Sydney) and a best-selling author and blogger.