The main Amendment Regulations tend to take all the attention, but a companion instrument, the Migration (Student Visa Applications to Be Made from outside Australia) Instrument 2026 (LIN 26/102), is what actually makes the new offshore-application rule work in practice.
What the instrument does
The Amendment Regulations introduced a new requirement: people holding certain temporary visas can no longer lodge a Student visa application while in Australia and must be outside the country when they apply. What the regulations don’t spell out is which visas fall under this requirement. That is the job of LIN 26/102, which the Minister made using the power in paragraph 1222(5)(e) of Schedule 1 to the Migration Regulations.
Which visas are covered
The instrument names 17 visa subclasses (and, for some, only particular streams) whose holders must apply for a Student visa from offshore. They include:
- Subclass 400 (Temporary Work – Short Stay Specialist)
- Subclass 403 (Temporary Work – International Relations), limited to the Domestic Worker (Diplomatic or Consular) stream
- Subclass 407 (Training)
- Subclass 408 (Temporary Activity)
- Subclass 417 (Working Holiday) and Subclass 462 (Work and Holiday)
- Subclass 457 and Subclass 482 (skilled work visas, covering the Skills in Demand and Temporary Skill Shortage streams)
- Subclass 485 (Temporary Graduate)
- Subclass 600 (Visitor), along with
- Subclass 601 (Electronic Travel Authority) and Subclass 651 (eVisitor)
- Subclass 602 (Medical Treatment)
- Subclass 771 (Transit)
- Subclass 988 (Maritime Crew)
- Subclass 995 (Diplomatic (Temporary)), but only where the visa was granted under the specific criteria in Division 995.2
Put simply, this captures many of the most common temporary visa types. Working holidaymakers, visitors, skilled workers, trainees, and graduates who want a Student visa will now have to leave Australia before applying.
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A commencement condition built into the instrument
Registration alone doesn’t bring this instrument into effect. It commences only once the Amendment Regulations have also been registered, and if those regulations never take effect, neither does this instrument. It also repeals an earlier, related instrument, the Migration (Visas that Preclude a Person from Lodging a Student Visa Application in Australia) Instrument 2026, replacing and updating it.
Why it matters
Migration law is rarely contained in a single document. The headline regulation establishes that a rule exists, while instruments like this one show exactly who is caught by it. If you hold any of the visas above and are considering a move to a Student visa, this instrument means you will need to lodge that application from outside Australia.
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