Student Subclass 500 Visas

Student Visas allow international students to travel to and from Australia and live in Australia while they undertake a full-time course of study. There are many different courses an international student may enroll in, and it is possible to apply for permission to work part-time while studying.

Visa Requirements

Enrolment in Registered Course

You must first enroll in a CRICOS-registered course, or in a primary or high school program.

Genuine Temporary Entrant

You will need to show that you are a genuine student who will complete their studies in Australia, comply with visa conditions and in general return home after your studies.

This would generally involve demonstrating how the studies are relevant to your background, and how they will improve your employment prospects in your home country.

Country and Provider Risk Model

Risk ratings apply to different education providers and to different passport countries.

Depending on the combination of your passport country and the education provider, you will either need to meet:

• Regular Evidentiary Requirements: in this case, you would need to provide evidence of English language ability and finances
• Streamlined Evidentiary Requirements: evidence of English language ability or finances not generally required

English Language Ability

If you are subject to “Regular Evidentiary Requirements”, you will need to provide evidence of your English language ability.

This would generally require you to undertake English language testing – minimum scores would generally be as follows:

• IELTS: 5.5 Average
• TOEFL (Paper): 527
• TOEFL iBT: 46
• CAE (Cambridge): 162
• PTE (Pearson): 42
• OET (Occupational English Test): B Pass

If you are completing ELICOS (English language) studies as part of a packaged course, the English scores are somewhat lower.

You may be exempt from English language testing if:

• You hold a passport from certain countries
• You have previously studied in English medium or in Australia
• You are enrolled in certain types of courses

Financial Requirement

If required, you would need to provide evidence that you have sufficient funds to undertake studies in Australia. This could be either of the following:

• Evidence of funds to cover your studies for the first 12 months of your stay in Australia; or
• Evidence of taxable income of your parents or spouse for the last 12 months

How do I apply?

You can either be in Australia or overseas when you apply for a student visa. If in Australia, you would generally need to hold a substantive visa which is not subject to a “no further stay” condition.

The application is generally lodged online, though paper applications are possible in some circumstances.

Visa Conditions

Your visa is generally approved for the duration of your studies plus 2 months or so. Ph.D. and Masters by Research students will generally receive an additional 6 months to handle marking of their theses.

You are permitted to work in Australia on a student visa once you have commenced your studies. In general, you can work for up to 40 hours a fortnight whilst your course is in session.

You must maintain enrolment in an approved course whilst in Australia – you are not allowed to swap to a lower course, but can swap to a higher level course whilst you are in Australia.

To obtain a student visa, you must provide evidence of adequate health insurance arrangements, and this is also an ongoing condition of your visa.

Conclusion

Student visas can be a good way to improve your skills and employability. Australian qualifications can also give you more options in applying for longer-stay visas such as Graduate Temporary Subclass 485 visas and General Skilled Migration.

Many students may be eligible for migration options before they commence studies. If you would like to look at a student visa as part of your overall migration strategy, please book a consultation with one of our advisors.