Australia is the third most popular international student destination in the world. Australia is currently home to nearly 700,000 international students who are studying either English, vocational courses, undergraduate or postgraduate degrees. Australia is soon expected to take over the UK as the world’s second most popular study destination, just behind the US, according to the University College of London’s Centre for Global Higher Education. Australia offers a variety of study options which includes the following:
● High School in Australia – Year 10, 11 and 12.
● Independent ELICOS (English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students)
● Vocational courses – Certificates and Diplomas.
● Bachelor’s degree – 3 years courses, in colleges or universities.
● Master’s degree – 2 years courses, in colleges or universities.
If you’ve chosen to study in Australia, then you must apply for an Australian student visa. If you’re a full-time student, you’ll need a Subclass 500 Visa and you must apply at least six weeks before your course starts.
With this visa, you can
• participate in an eligible course of study in Australia
• travel in and out of Australia
• work up to 40 hours every 2-week period once your course starts
How long you can stay
This is a temporary visa to study up to 5 years. The type of course and its length will determine the length of stay
Primary school children enrolled in years 1-4 will generally only be granted a student visa for a maximum period of 3 years.
You can include family members when you lodge your visa application. For student visas, your family member is:
● Your partner, or
● Your or your partner’s dependent child who is unmarried and has not turned 18 years of age.
You must declare your family members in your student visa application even if they do not plan to travel with you to Australia. If you do not do this, your family members will not be eligible for a student visa to join you in Australia.
Your family members can also apply as a subsequent entrant (at a later time, separate from your application).
3 Main Student Visa Application Requirements
There are three main requirements every applicant must complete to apply for the Australian student visa (subclass 500) including;
● You must be enrolled in a CRICOS course of study in Australia
● You must hold Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC), or fall in one of the exemption categories, for your stay in Australia.
● If you are under 18, you must prove you have a welfare arrangement
English Language Requirement
Unless you are exempt, you must meet the Student visa English language requirement by providing evidence that you achieved the applicable score on an approved English language test. The English language test must have been taken in the 2 years before you apply for a student visa.
The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is one of the leading English test providers whereas Pearson PTE English test is rapidly growing in popularity.
Check the table below to review all the different English Testing Providers and the minimum score accepted by DOHA to prove evidence of English language for the subclass 500 visa.
Please note, even though you are required to score minimum 5.5 in IELTS however, let’s say your minimum score is only 4.5 then you may wish to take 20 weeks of ELICOS (English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students) as a substitute to apply for a student visa.
Click here to read more about the English Language Requirement for Australian Student Visas.
Genuine Temporary Entrant Requirement
Besides these requirements above, there is another requirement for applying student visa that you must know. The Department of Home Affairs requires you to be a genuine temporary entrant to be eligible for a student visa.
The Genuine Temporary Entrant (GTE) is a measure to ensure that the student visa is used as intended and not as a way for international students to maintain ongoing residency in Australia. However, this requirement is not intended to exclude students who, after studying in Australia, develop skills Australia needs and who then go on to apply for permanent residence.
As an applicant, you are required to submit a personal statement regarding the GTE requirement. In your statement, you need to provide information about your personal circumstances. The Department of Home Affairs recommends you to provide evidence for the information in your statement. Your personal statement will not be weighed heavily by the assessors unless you provide strong and convincing evidence.
In short, the GTE statement is the opportunity for you to convince the Department of Home Affairs why you should be granted a student visa. We will explain further about GTE in the next article.
Apply from
You can be in or outside Australia when you apply for the visa and when we decide on your application.
Student Visa Processing Times
Processing times for all Australian visas change over time and depend on the demand. Due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, visa processing time may vary significantly.
Your application can take longer to process if:
● you do not fill it in correctly
● you do not include all the relevant documents
● it takes time for DOHA to verify your information
Do you want to know more about the Australian student visa? Contact Pace Migration now and call us on 0434 123 123 for a quick chat or email us on [email protected] to book an appointment to have a consultation with our migration agent.
Thanks for reading!
Source: studyinaustralia.gov.au, immi.homeaffairs.gov.au, studee, workvisalawyers, pacemigration
