Students wanting to study in Australia must meet certain requirements to qualify for a visa. Once you are enrolled in a full-time study course you can apply for a visa under Subclass 500. Here is a list of compulsory requirements that must be submitted along with his visa application.
1. Electronic Confirmation of Enrolment (eCoE) certificate
2. Genuine Temporary Entrant (GTE) statement
3. Financial Requirements
4. English Proficiency test results
5. Health Requirement
6. Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC)
7. Character Requirement
1. Electronic Confirmation of Enrolment (eCOE) certificate:
You must submit a Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE) which is usually in the electronic format. This CoE is mandatory for processing your visa application.
To get your CoE you must first be enrolled in an Australian college/university. Once you receive an offer letter from a college, you must accept the offer and pay the tuition fee deposit after which the college will send you the CoE.
The CoE is proof that you have been accepted by a college in Australia and is required to begin your visa application process.
2. Genuine Temporary Entrant (GTE) Statement:
This document is required to prove that you are a Genuine Temporary Entrant. This is required to prove that your intention to come to Australia is to study and you would go back to your home country once you complete your studies or after a few years of work experience. To give you this document your visa application is assessed on the following basis by the department of home affairs
- Your economic position in your home country
- Your immigration history
- Potential circumstances for you in Australia
- The relevance of your course to your future career
To check if you meet the GTE requirements, you may be asked to attend an interview in the Australian embassy close to you.
To get your student visa you must prove that you have the funds to cover your course fees, travel and living costs. Based on rules that came into effect from February 2018, you must prove that you have funds amounting to AU$20,290 to cover your living costs. This does not include your tuition and travel costs.
If you have dependents you should prove that you have the funds to cover their living costs including school fees for your children. The other option is to provide evidence that you will get financial support from your spouse or parents for your study and stay in Australia and that they earn at least AU$60,000 per annum.
If you don’t belong to an English-speaking country or have not done at least five years of study in an English-speaking country, you will need to give proof that you can speak the language at the required level. You will need to provide results of tests in the English language like IELTS, TOEFL, PTE. The required score in these tests depends on the course you will be studying.
To study in Australia, you must prove that you are in good health. To do this you will have to provide a certificate after a health checkup. Both should be done by empaneled doctors. You can get your health checkup done before your visa application. Getting it ahead of time can help quicker processing of your visa.
6.Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC):
The Australian government requires students from abroad to have health insurance- Overseas Health Insurance Cover or the OSHC. This provides basic medical and hospital cover. You can purchase this insurance through your university. The duration of your health cover determines the tenure of your visa. The cover would be adjusted based on the duration of your course. The cost will depend on the insurance provider and the period of insurance.
You should have proof of good character to get your visa. This means you should have no criminal record and for this, you may need to get a police certificate. You will need to fill a form called the Character Statutory Declaration Form when submitting your visa application.
Before you submit your visa application, ensure all the above requirements are met. The processing time for your visa is usually four weeks. You can apply for the visa 124 days before the start of your course and you can travel to the country 90 days before the commencement of your course. You must inform Australian authorities about your resident address within 7 days of your arrival there.
If you have any dependents, they can apply for the same Subclass 500 visa. Even if they may not come with you immediately, you must declare your dependents in your visa application. Otherwise, they may not be eligible for a dependent visa later.
Talk to an immigration consultant to help you manage the application process and successfully get your visa.
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Posted on August 10, 2019