The Rise In The Australian Student Visa

Do you live overseas and thinking of coming to Australia to work or study? Or are you currently Down Under on a visitor or working holiday visa and you want to extend your stay in Australia to undertake full-time study; but don’t know where to start?

The Australian Government runs a program that allows anybody (who is not an Australian resident or citizen) to study in Australia. This program is called the Overseas Student Program. Any person who wants to study under this program must get an Australian student visa before they can start any course (that is longer than three months) in Australia. Any course in Australia that is under three months can be studied on a visitor or working visa.

If you have migrated to Australia under any of the skilled migration categories, you may be able to change or extend your visa, so that you can commence study.

What You Need to Know Before Applying for Your Student Visa:

Before you apply for an Australian student visa, there is a visa requirement for you to demonstrate that you have sufficient funds to support your everyday living expenses and your education expenses for the entire length of your chosen course. Obviously you can work part time to help pay for your living expenses, but you should be aware that you cannot work any more than 20 hours per week when your course is running full time.

This is also another visa requirement for health insurance; the Department of Immigration says that you must have Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) for the entire duration of your Australian student visa. There are also other insurance requirements that you need to take care of while studying in Australia on an Australian student visa, so contact your broker or solicitor to find out what you are required to insure during your time in Australia.

You should also be aware that it is an Australian visa requirement for all skilled migration categories and student visa categories that all documents supporting your Australian visa application are to be in English. Documents that are in other languages must be accompanied by the English translation.

How to Apply for an Australia Student Visa:

Do you know that you definitely need a Student visa? It depends on the length of your course. You should do adequate research to find out the best person or organisation that can give you all the information you need, and advise you if a holiday visa or if a working skilled migration categories, or if the student visa category is best for you and what documents you will need to attach to your application.

If you wish to extend your stay in Australia to complete your current course or to commence another course, it is advised that you apply for a new Australian student visa before your existing expires. There is no guarantee that you will be issued with a renewed Australian student visa.

The Advantages of Studying on a Student Visa:

There are many advantages of studying on an Australian student visa. You will be eligible for subsidised student health cover, including access to hospitals and out of hospital medical services. How good is that?! I bet you didn’t know that your family members may be able to visit you, using your Australian student visa? There are certain rules and laws regarding this. It is not guaranteed that, but if your relatives apply as either your legal guardian or as a dependent family member – it may be possible!

Another benefit of studying on an Australian study visa is that you can obviously stay and study longer than three months – provided that you can financially support yourself for the entire length of your course. Remember that you can work part time to help you get by, during study periods and but you can work unlimited hours all other times!

With the large number of institutions and courses on offer, it is no wonder Australia is the place to be! Just be sure to do your research before migrating Down Under to study.