Requirements for Student Visa Australia

Are you planning on studying abroad? Would you like to study in Australia?

You will need to hold a student visa for Australia.

To be eligible for a student visa you must first be accepted for a full time study in a registered course at one of Australia's schools, technical colleges or universities.

A registered course is a course offered by an Australian education provider that is registered on the commonwealth register of institutions and courses for overseas students (CRICOS). (http://cricos.dest.gov.au)

Note: If you are sponsored by AusiAid or defense or are a secondary school exchange student you are not required to enroll in a registered course to in order to be granted a student visa for Australia. However you must be enrolled in a full time course of study or training.

For more information you can continue reading or you can Click here for advice.

First step – find out the appropriate Australia student visa subclasses

The Australian student visa contains seven subclasses, which are based on the education sector of your principle course, and an additional subclass for student guardians.

This visa is for international students who want to study English language courses that lead to a certificate I, II, III or IV, and that result in no formal Australian award.

Note: If you are studying ELICOS as a demand to another course, you must apply for the visa appropriate to your main course of study. For example if you plan to complete a three-month ELICOS course before starting a Bachelor degree, you must apply for the higher education sector visa.

Student visa Australia - Subclass 571 - Primary or secondary school course

This visa is for international students applying to study in Australia and whose main course of study is: a primary school course, a secondary school course, including junior and senior secondary, or an approved secondary school exchange program.

Student visa Australia - Subclass 572 - Vocational education and training -

This student Australia visa is for international students applying to study in Australia in a technical/trade college, resulting in the award of: a certificate I, II, III and IV (except ELICOS), a diploma, an advanced diploma, a vocational graduate certificate or a vocational graduate diploma.

Student visa Australia - Subclass 573 - Higher education

This Australia student visa applies for international students undertaking a course of study at university resulting in the award of a Bachelor degree, associate degree, graduate certificate, graduate diploma, or Masters by coursework.

Student visa Australia - Subclass 574 - Postgraduate research

This Australia student visa is for international students who want to study a Masters degree by research or a Doctoral degree in Australia.

Student visa Australia - Subclass 575 - Non-award sector

This visa is for international students who want to study in Australia a non-award foundation studies course, or other full-time course (or components of a course) that does not lead to an Australian award.

Note: If you are studying a non-award course as a pre-requisite to another course, you must apply for the visa appropriate for your main course of study. For example if you plan to complete a three-month non-award foundation studies course before starting a Bachelor of Arts degree, you must apply for the Higher Education Sector visa.

Student visa Australia - Subclass 576 AusAID and Defense

This Australia student visa is for international students who are sponsored by AusAID or Defence to study a full-time course of any type in Australia.

Student visa Australia - Subclass 580 - Student guardians

International students studying in Australia on a student visa may require a guardian if they are under 18 years. There may also be exceptional circumstances where a student over 18 years may need a guardian for religious or cultural reasons.

Parents or relatives can apply for a visa to stay in Australia as the guardian of a student who is studying in Australia.

Second Step – Find out your student visa Australia assessment level (ASL)

To be granted a student visa you will be assessed against a number of factors which vary according to your country of passport and visa subclass. The assessment levels range between 1 and 5. The higher your assessment level, the greater the degree of evidence you required to present in order to support your claim for a student visa.

To identify the assessment level for your visa application, you need to match your passport type with the visa subclass for the education sector of your principal course

Note - Your family members may be eligible to apply for a visa to accompany you to Australia. Family members are subject to the same assessment level as the student, regardless of the type of passport the family member holds.

• Acceptance - You must be accepted for full-time study in a registered course or part of a registered course.
• Financial requirements - You must have enough money to pay for travel, tuition and living expenses for yourself, your spouse and your dependent children for the duration of your stay in Australia.
• Situation in your home country – Personal or financial commitments that may prompts you to return to your home country.
• Immigration history – previous compliance with immigration laws and whether you have previously applied for entry to Australia.
• Health requirements - You must meet certain health requirements and may need to undergo a health examination.
• Health insurance - You must have health insurance while in Australia. Health insurance can be provided by obtaining Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) which provides medical and hospital insurance.You can ask your education provider to organise OSHC for you, or you can select an approved OSHC provider yourself and pay the insurance.

  Note: You do not need OSHC if you are: A Norwegian student covered by the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme, or a Swedish student covered by the National Board of Student Aid or by Kammarkollegiet.

• English language skills - If English is not your first language you may need to undertake the IELTS English test . Your Australian education provider can advise you about the level of English you need and the evidence you must provide.
• Academic record and history - Your Australian education provider can advise you of the academic results you need and the evidence you must provide.
• Character requirement - You must be of good character to enter Australia. The information you provide on the 'Character Declaration' section of your application will be used to assess your character. However you may be asked to provide police certificates for each country you have lived in for 12 months or more over the last ten years since turning 16.
• Debts to the Australian Government - To enter Australia you must have no outstanding debts to the Australian Government, or have arranged to repay any outstanding debts to the Australian Government.
• Australian Values Statement - If you are over 18 years of age you must declare that you will respect Australian values and obey the laws of Australia.

• Parental permission - Your parents and/or anyone who can legally decide where you can live must give permission for you to study in Australia
• Accommodation and welfare arrangements You must have acceptable arrangements for your accommodation, support and general welfare for the duration of your student visa or until you turn 18 (whichever happens first).

• Multiple entries to and from Australia for the duration of your visa, without any restrictions.
• You can study in Australia for the duration of your course.
• Eligible dependant family members can accompany you to Australia and stay the same length of time as you, but they can not stay once you have left the country.
• Working while studying - If you have been granted an Australian student visa on or after 26 April 2008, you and your dependent family members will already have permission to work automatically included with your visa. If you were granted a Student visa before 26 April 2008 and have not yet applied for permission to work, you and your dependent family members may only apply for permission to work after you have started your course in Australia.
• Work entitlements - You can work up to 20 hours per week while your course is in session and unlimited hours during scheduled course breaks. Your family members can work up to 20 hours per week provided you have commenced your course of study in Australia.

Disclaimer: The contents of this page are provided as an information guide only. The use of this website is at the viewer/user's sole risk. While every effort is made in presenting up-to-date and accurate information, no responsibility or liability is accepted by the owners to this website for any errors, omissions, outdated or misleading information on these pages or any site to which these pages connect or are linked.

Source & Copyright: The source of the above visa and immigration information and copyright owner/s is the: - The department of immigration and Citizenship Australia URL: http://www.immi.gov.au/

The viewer/user of this web page should use the above information as a guideline only, and should always contact the above sources or the user's own government representatives for the most up-to-date information at that moment in time, before making a final decision to travel to that country or destination.