The Australian Student Visa (Subclass 500) is a temporary visa permitting international students to undertake full-time registered courses at accredited Australian education institutions. Eligible programs include higher education (universities), vocational education (VET), school education, English language intensive courses (ELICOS), and postgraduate research.

The Student visa Australia allows you to participate in an eligible course of study in Australia. You will get access to unrestricted travel in and out of the country. The visa is granted for up to 5 years and in line with your course enrolment. The student visa Australia has to be applied online by the applicant staying in or outside the country. If you are a student under 18 years of age you will have to provide evidence that you have a welfare arrangement during your stay in the country for the whole duration of your course of study. The student visa 500 will allow you to work for up to 48 hours a fortnight when your course of study or training is in session.
 

Student Visa

Benefits of Student Visa

  • Once you get a student visa in Australia you will have access to QS world ranking universities offering high quality education across various disciplines.
  • You will get to experience a multi-cultural society that heartily welcomes students from abroad and fosters global perspectives.
  • If you are a graduate then you can apply for a four year post study work permit that will I love you to gain some valuable work experience in the country and then later apply for a post graduation.
  • Eligible graduates will be able to file for a permanent residency that will offer them long term career opportunities.
  • The student visa Subclass 500 will allow international students to work part time. This will be up to 40 hours per fortnight during the study periods that will help them to provide valuable work experience and gain supplementary income.
     

Student Visa Australia Requirements

  • You must include evidence regarding the enrollment in your course of study along with your student visa application.
  • For a student visa but you are below 18 years of age then you must have enough welfare arrangements in place for the duration of your stay in the country.
  • At the time of submitting your application you will need to provide evidence of your English language skills. 
  • You want your family members must have and maintain adequate Health Insurance of your stain Australia. You must have an overseas student health cover (OSHC).
  • You must have enough money to pay for your stay in the country. 
  • You must be a genuine student for entry
  • If you and your family members are above 16 years of age, then you will have to meet the health requirements and get a police certificate to provide evidence of your good character.

Detailed Requirements

The following are the necessary requirements for Student visa

Age criteria

If you are a school student then you must be job 6 years or older to apply for this visa

  • When you begin your year 9, should be less than 17 years old
  • At the beginning of year 10, you should be less than 18 years old
  • When you begin your year 11, you should be less than 19 years old
  • At the beginning of year 12, you should be less than 20 years old.

Enrollment in the course of study and providing evidence

  • You must include evidence regarding the enrollment in your course of study along with your student visa application. Unless you do this your application cannot be processed and will not be considered as valid.
  • The applicant must provide a confirmation of enrolment (COE).  You should be enrolled in a full time course registered on the Commonwealth register of Institutions and courses for Overseas students (CRICOS). You will have to provide enrolment for all the attended courses at the time of your application. If you are unable to provide a COE at the time of lodging your application then your visa will be invalid.
  • In case you are applying for more than one course in your student visa application then you will have to include all the COE codes in your application form. This is because, your visa period will only consider the duration of the course according to the COE that you will provide.
  • You can apply for two or more courses on your student visa where one course clearly leads to the next. In case there is a gap in the two courses, it should be less than two calendar months unless the first course finishes at the end of standard academic year and the next course  will start at the beginning of the standard academic year.
  • If you want that your student visa should cover more than one course then you will have to include all the codes in your application form otherwise your visa will only cover  the COE that you provide.

Other enrollment evidence

You will not need to provide a COE if you are:

  • Enrolled in a full time course of study or training under a scholarship scheme that is approved by the Australian minister of Foreign Affairs and trade i.e provide a letter of support.
  • Sponsored by the Australian department of Defense i.e. provide a letter of support.
  • A secondary Exchange Student i.e. provide an acceptance advice of secondary Exchange Student form (AASES).
  • A post graduate research student who needs to stay in the country while your thesis is being marked -In this case you will need to provide a letter from your education provider.

Welfare arrangements

For a student visa but you are below 18 years of age then you must have enough welfare arrangements in place for the duration of your stay in the country.

English language requirements

At the time of submitting your application you will need to provide evidence of your English language skills. The department can ask you about the English language after you have submitted your application. This can be anytime while they are processing your application. To provide evidence of your English language skills you will have to prove that:

  • You have obtained a certain test score in the English language test
  • You fall into an exemption category list

You must have completed your English language test in either 2 years before:

  • The date of lodging your application or
  • The department decides on your visa application if you did not give them evidence of the English language test at the time your application.

You can be exempted by providing the English test score with your visa application if one of the following applies to your case:

  • You are a citizen and hold a passport of the UK, USA, Canada, New Zealand or Republic of Ireland.
     
  • You are an applicant who is Foreign Affairs or Defence sponsors student or Secondary Exchange Student.
  • You are enrolled in a principle course of study that is a registered school course.
  • You are enrolled course of study that is a standard on English language intensive quotes for Overseas students
  • Enrolled in a principle course of study registered and delivered in a language other than English
  • You are enrolled in a registered post graduate research course
  • You have completed at least 5 years of study in English in Australia UK, USA, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa or the Republic of Ireland
  • In the 2 years before applying for student visa you completed the senior secondary certificate of education in Australia in English while you held a student visa
  • In the 2 years before applying for student visa you completed a substantial component of a course that would qualify you under the Australian qualifications framework add the certificate for or higher level while you held a student visa.

Health Insurance

  • You want your family members must have and maintain adequate Health Insurance of your stain Australia. You must have an overseas student health cover (OSHC). This should be from an approved Australian Health Insurance provider. Your cover should start from the day that you arrive in Australia, and not the day your course begins.
  • It is important to ensure that you do not enter the country before your OSHC begins and you have to maintain it until you leave the country. If you are residing in Australia then you must have OSHC. Increase your previous visa required you to have health insurance then it should be continuous with no bad between your previous health cover and your OSHC.
  • In order to get an Overseas student health cover, you will have to find an approved provider and pay for your policy. Your education provider migration agent will arrange OSHC for you.

In or outside Australia

You can be in or outside when you are applying for a student visa in Australia. Applicant can apply from within the country if you hold a substantive visa except for one of the following:

  • Temporary work Subclass 403 in the domestic worker stream
  • Domestic worker temporary diplomatic and consular Visa subclass 426
  • Temporary graduate visa subclass 485
  • Visitor visa subclass 600
  • Electronic travel authority visa subclass 601
  • Medical treatment visa sub-class 602
  • E visitor visa subclass 651
  • Transit Visa sub class 771
  • Maritime crew visa sub class 988
  • Diplomatic temporary visa subclass 995- primary visa holder only. Dependent or a family member of a diplomatic temporary visa subclass 995 can apply for a student visa in Australia.

You do not hold an eligible substances visa then 28 days of:

  • Either holding a student visa, a special purpose visa or a dependent diplomatic temporary visa.
  • Or being notified by the Tribunal that your visa cancellation has been set aside.

Finances

You must have enough money to pay for your stay in the country. The living costs is the minimum amount of money that you need for the visa. However, the actual living cause out Australia. This can be much higher then what you need for your visa. Therefore you will need to research the area where you intend to live and calculate the living costs in that area accordingly.
You should not rely on work to support yourself or your family while you are in the country.

Being a genuine student

  • You must be a genuine student for entry
  • And you should be able to show an understanding that studying in Australia is the primary reason for your visit and applying for the student visa.

Health and character requirements

If you and your family members are above 16 years of age, then you will have to meet the health requirements and get a police certificate to provide evidence of your good character.

Australian value statement

If you are 18 years of age or older you must:

  • Have read the life in Australia booklet and
  • You must sign statement which will confirm that you will respect the Australian way of life and obey the Australian laws.
  • If you and your family members owe the Australian government any amount of money, then you or they must have paid it back or arrange to pay it back before applying for your visa application.
  • The department will definitely look into your immigration history while making a decision on your application. This means that you will not be eligible student visa in Australia if you have had previous visa cancellations or refusals.
  • The department will not grant a student visa if they feel that it is not in the best interests of the applicant under 18 years of age.

Student Visa Australia Processing Time

You will have to ensure that you have plenty of time to prepare for your application. The applications can take longer to process during peak periods. Therefore, you will have to lodge your application well in advance of your course start date. The application will take longer to process if

  • It has not been filled correctly
  • You have not included all the documentation or your information
  • Verification of your information takes time.

Applications are assessed in the date order and processing times can vary for a variety of reasons.

Frequently Asked Questions

It will take around 5 months for 90% of the visa applications to process.
 

A student can work for up to 40 hours in a fortnight.
 

A student can work for up to 40 hours in a fortnight.
 

It costs AUD 1,600.00 for the main applicant.
 

No, you can apply for this visa from inside the country or outside Australia.
 

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