The Department of Home Affairs has quietly flicked the switch on Ministerial Direction 115 (MD 115), reshaping the way all offshore Subclass 500 Student-visa files are triaged. Announced in Canberra on 17 November, the directive applies to applications lodged on or after 14 November 2025 and replaces the one-year-old MD 111.
Under the new traffic-light model, visa officers sort files into three ‘lanes’ linked to how closely a university, college or VET provider sticks to its National Planning Level (NPL) quota for new overseas student commencements. Providers sitting below 80 per cent of quota keep fast-track priority (1–4 weeks); those between 80 per cent and 115 per cent shift to a standard lane (5–8 weeks); anything above 115 per cent drops into a slow lane that could stretch beyond three months.
![Ministerial Direction 115 overhauls offshore student-visa queue on eve of 2026 intake]()
Why the change? International students accounted for roughly one-third of Australia’s net-overseas-migration spike in 2024-25. With a federal election due next year, the Government wants tighter control without an outright cap. MD 115 lets officials turn the processing dial up or down instantly by simply moving providers between lanes.
Practical implications are immediate. Agents say students aiming for February 2026 courses should lodge quickly or risk being caught behind slower institutional cohorts. Universities courting high-reputation, low-risk markets—such as Singapore or Sweden—now have an extra selling point, while providers with dubious compliance histories may find applications drying up.
For corporate mobility managers the message is clear: employee-dependant students (for example, children of inbound assignees) should target low-risk institutions to avoid start-date disruptions. Employers that fund executive MBA programs will also need to confirm whether partner schools sit in the fast or slow lane before issuing education assistance letters.
Under the new traffic-light model, visa officers sort files into three ‘lanes’ linked to how closely a university, college or VET provider sticks to its National Planning Level (NPL) quota for new overseas student commencements. Providers sitting below 80 per cent of quota keep fast-track priority (1–4 weeks); those between 80 per cent and 115 per cent shift to a standard lane (5–8 weeks); anything above 115 per cent drops into a slow lane that could stretch beyond three months.
Why the change? International students accounted for roughly one-third of Australia’s net-overseas-migration spike in 2024-25. With a federal election due next year, the Government wants tighter control without an outright cap. MD 115 lets officials turn the processing dial up or down instantly by simply moving providers between lanes.
Practical implications are immediate. Agents say students aiming for February 2026 courses should lodge quickly or risk being caught behind slower institutional cohorts. Universities courting high-reputation, low-risk markets—such as Singapore or Sweden—now have an extra selling point, while providers with dubious compliance histories may find applications drying up.
For corporate mobility managers the message is clear: employee-dependant students (for example, children of inbound assignees) should target low-risk institutions to avoid start-date disruptions. Employers that fund executive MBA programs will also need to confirm whether partner schools sit in the fast or slow lane before issuing education assistance letters.
