Student Visa

Australian student visa programme consist of different visa subclasses and Assessment levels.

Student visa (subclass 500)

Allows a student to study in a registered, full-time course.

Eligibility

You must

be at least six years of age
have been accepted to study at an educational institution in Australia
have health insurance.

Length of stay

Up to five years

What you can do

You can

study in your course.
work part-time.

AUD cost from

This visa is for students who want to come to Australia to study at a registered education institution.

What this visa lets you do

You can study a CRICOS registered full-time course in Australia.
Eligible family members can accompany you to Australia.

Before you apply

Before you apply for this visa, you must have:

been accepted to study full-time at an educational institution in Australia
organised appropriate welfare arrangements for the duration of your intended stay in Australia if you are under 18 years of age.

How long this visa lasts

This visa allows you to stay in Australia for the duration of your course.

Duration of course	Duration of visa
Longer than 10 months and finishing at the end of the Australian academic year (November – December)	Your visa will usually be granted to March 15 of the following year.
Longer than 10 months (finishing January – October)	Your visa will usually be granted for two months longer than the duration of your course.
10 months or less	Your visa will usually be granted for one month longer than the duration of your course.

The genuine temporary entrant (GTE) requirement is an integrity measure to ensure that the student visa programme is used as intended and not as a way for international students to maintain ongoing residency in Australia.

The GTE requirement applies to all student visa applicants. The officer assessing the visa will and consider whether the individual circumstances of the student indicates that their intention is for a temporary stay in Australia.

You must satisfy us that you have a genuine intention to stay in Australia temporarily.

When assessing the GTE requirement, we will consider the requirements set out in direction number 69. To assess this, we will consider:

your circumstances
your immigration history
if you are under 18 years old, the intention of your parent, legal guardian or partner
any other relevant matter.

The GTE requirement provides a useful way to help identify those applicants who are using the student visa programme for motives other than gaining a quality education. The requirement is not designed to exclude students who, after studying in Australia, go on to develop the skills required by the Australian labour market and apply to become permanent residents.