Australia Student Visa: Step by Step Procedures

Studying in Australia is an enormous way to experience a unique lifestyle while gaining new skills. 

Australia has world-class practical vocational colleges, universities, and outstanding English language schools to maintain international students. Thus, it will be necessary to obtain Australia Student Visa.

For students who are going to study in Australia for a longer period, the student will need to apply for a student visa. Here our team of professionals will guide you through the application process step by step. You can use a tourist visa if taking a short program, for example, a language course, or a maximum of 12 weeks (84 days).

If you have a Working Holiday visa, you can study for 16 weeks (112 days). For university/college studies and all longer programs, you will be required to apply for a student visa. If you want to stay in Australia for an extended period, an Australian Student Visa is your best starting point.

To apply for an Australian Student visa, kindly follow the steps below:

Table of contents

Apply to a school in Australia and get a CoE

To apply for an Australian student visa, you ought to be enrolled at an Australian University/college. After receiving an offer letter from a school, accepting the offer, and pay the tuition deposit, the school will send you a Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE).

The COE or a letter offer is an acknowledgment of placement to study, from an educational institute belonging to Commonwealth Register of Institutions of Courses (CRICOS), basically in Australia. The COE is essentially a code you will enter within one of the steps in the online visa application. This document will be required to begin your visa application.

If you take for several programs, you must first take a preparatory language course and then study at college; one CoE will be required for each program.

English proficiency:

If you are not from an English-speaking country, you will have to take language tests to prove your English proficiency to the DIBP. Or haven’t completed education in an English-speaking country for at least 5 years. Some of these common tests include IELTS, TOEFL IBT, and Cambridge Advanced English (CAE). There is a list of proficiency tests and their qualified scores accepted by the DIBP here.

Character

Certification of good character is essential for the Australian student visa process. This includes documents like a police statement from your home country and a form called the Character Statutory Declaration Form.

Our team of professionals is always available to guide you on the process with application to all Universities/colleges in Australia; kindly fill out an information request so we can help you!

Create an account with the Australian immigration Authorities.

Currently, you can easily apply online for Australian Students visas. Before you start your visa application process, you are expected to create an account through the Australian online immigration portal, click here to access the portal.

You must submit your name, phone number, and e-mail address. Then you ought to create a password and accept their conditions.

Make sure that you have all the needed documents in digital format

To apply for an Australian student visa, you will need the following documents:

  • Your CoE
  •  An OSHC health insurance. See our study abroad insurance FAQ
  •  A passport that preferably must be valid for the period of your stay in Australia since it will be troublesome to exchange your passport there when you study with a student visa
  •  Evidence of temporary stay: on your application, you must officially state that you only plan to stay temporarily in Australia. You can support this claim by attaching evidence of employment or a letter from your school in your home country or similar documents.

Additional documents will be required depending on the location where you apply and where you will study. Some common documents that will be needed are:

  • Additional ID documents, such as a certificate of birth
  •  Evidence that you can finance your studies in Australia, such as a bank statement
  •  Evidence that you have adequate knowledge to pass your intended studies, such as certified grade reports and IELTS-test results.
  •  Real evidence of prior employment, such as an employment contract, paychecks etc.
  • Credentials of criminal offenses if you have ever been convicted.
  •  To access a comprehensive document list, click here > and navigate to the Document Checklist tool. You must fill in your nationality and school and get a comprehensive list of required documents there.

If you apply online all documents must be uploaded in a digital format. So it will be better to have access to a scanner during the application process, or you can scan everything in advance. All documents should be translated into the English language by a certified translator.

You can save your application and continue later if you miss some documents or want to do something else.

Process The Visa Application Online

You should apply for a student visa subclass of five hundred (500). The process of this application can be made at the earliest 124 days before your course starts (according to the date on your CoE).

To apply click here 

On the first page of the visa form, you must fill in your nationality and your CoE code(s).

You must also select your Education sector, for instance, ELICOS for language courses or Higher Education for courses that lead to a university degree. Additional information is available on the form.

After completing the form, you will be notified to submit your details, family details, previous educational details, work experience details, health, and criminal record.

At this point, you can save the application to continue later.

Pay the Visa fee and obtain a TRN-Number

Once you have completed the application, you must pay the application fee, which is currently 550 AUD. The easiest method of payment is to pay with a credit card online.

Click here to read more about the payment.

When the application and payment are done, you will get a receipt with a Transaction Reference Number (TRN number). Save the Reference Number; it will be used in tracking your application status.

Health Checkup And Interview

Depending on your place of study and residence, you must undergo a health checkup and/or a visa interview.

You will receive this information in your e-mail after you must have completed the above application (if it applies to you).

Do not undergo the health checkup before completing your application form because you will need your Transaction Reference Number (TRN-number). And also, you will get instructions on what you need to check.

Click here to find approved doctors in your country by Australian Immigrations to do this checkup.

Obtain Your Visa Decision

The period to obtain your visa depends on the location you are applying from and how busy the Australian immigration authorities are.

In our experience, you usually obtain your decision within a space of one (1) or a couple of weeks after completing your application.

You can check the status of your application by logging in to the Australian immigration portal (this is the account you created in step 2 above). And if needed, enter your Transaction Reference Number (TRN-number).

To Login, Click here

Normally you will be notified by E-mail from the Australian authorities once your visa decision is ready.

Note: your visa is electronic, so if you want physical evidence, you can print the grant letter you received online immediately after your visa is approved.

Travel to Australia

Once you have received your visa, you can enter Australia at the earliest 90 days before the course start date printed on your Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE).

If you haven’t booked accommodation through your school, you are expected to inform them of your address in Australia within seven (7) days of your arrival in Australia.

Typically, you have the right to stay in Australia for thirty (30) days after your course ends or Sixty (60) days if your course lasts longer than 10 months.

All these date limits should be indicated on your visa, and if that information differs from what you see here, you should always follow the instructions on your visa.

Read more about studying in Australia!

Disclaimer Notice

Note that the Australian authorities can change their visa application process without notifying us. Diverse rules can apply to different nationalities so always makes sure the instructions from the immigration authorities are duly followed.

The detailed information in the article is accurate to the best of our knowledge. However, we cannot be held responsible for any error that might occur without our knowledge.

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