{"id":13085,"date":"2023-05-23T01:07:35","date_gmt":"2023-05-23T01:07:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.educli.com\/blog\/?p=13085"},"modified":"2026-03-03T11:14:53","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T11:14:53","slug":"the-408-covid-visa-in-australia-help-or-scam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.educli.com\/resources\/the-408-covid-visa-in-australia-help-or-scam\/","title":{"rendered":"The 408 COVID visa in Australia Help or Scam?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented challenges to individuals and communities around the world, including Australia. To help mitigate the impacts of the pandemic, the Australian government introduced the 408 COVID visa, which allows individuals to stay temporarily in Australia. This visa has now evolved into temporary work visas, with no sign of being replaced.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, there has been controversy surrounding the <a href=\"https:\/\/immi.homeaffairs.gov.au\/visas\/getting-a-visa\/visa-listing\/temporary-activity-408\/australian-government-endorsed-events-covid-19\">408 COVID visa<\/a>,<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0with mainly education providers claiming that it is a scam. So, is the 408 COVID visa in Australia a help or scam? Let&#8217;s take a closer look.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b>What is the 408 COVID visa?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The 408 COVID visa was introduced in response to the pandemic and allows for temporary visa holders to remain in Australia for up to 12 months, if they are unable to leave due to COVID-19-related travel restrictions. This visa has no work restrictions, is free of charge, and does not provide a pathway to permanent residency or citizenship.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b>Is the 408 COVID visa a scam?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There is growing concern among some universities in Australia that the <a href=\"https:\/\/immi.homeaffairs.gov.au\/visas\/getting-a-visa\/visa-listing\/temporary-activity-408\/australian-government-endorsed-events-covid-19\">408 COVID visa<\/a><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is being used as a loophole by international students to work in the country rather than study. There have been reports of students being encouraged to enrol in courses solely for the purpose of obtaining a student visa and later changing to 408 COVID visas for the sole purpose of working full time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b>How can the 408 COVID visa help?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While the 408 COVID visa was intended to provide a temporary solution for those impacted by the pandemic, its continued use by international students as a means to work in Australia rather than to study has raised questions about its effectiveness and fairness.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Australian government has acknowledged these concerns and has announced plans to review the 408 COVID visa program to ensure that it is being used appropriately and that it continues to support the education and tourism sectors in the country.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What do you think about the <a href=\"https:\/\/immi.homeaffairs.gov.au\/visas\/getting-a-visa\/visa-listing\/temporary-activity-408\/australian-government-endorsed-events-covid-19\">sc408 visas<\/a>? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.educli.com\/en\/contact-us\">Please let us know<\/a>..<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>#australianvisa #covid #educli<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented challenges to individuals and communities around the world, including Australia. To help mitigate the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":13086,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[131,126],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international-education","category-visa-immigration"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The 408 COVID visa in Australia Help or Scam? - Resources<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.educli.com\/resources\/the-408-covid-visa-in-australia-help-or-scam\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The 408 COVID visa in Australia Help or Scam? - Resources\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented challenges to individuals and communities around the world, including Australia. 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