Australia is a highly developed country and a preferred destination for students desirous of higher education. Australia is an English speaking country and the degrees conferred by Australian universities and colleges carry weight in US and European countries. Australia welcomes talented foreign students with open arms and also provides scholarships to the deserving candidates. If you are a foreign student but do not know how to apply for Australian student visa, this article is meant to make it easier for you to fulfil the formalities.
Step by step guide to apply for Australian Student Visa
Step 01 – Apply for Australian Colleges/ Universities
Before applying for an Australian visa, it is necessary to decide on the colleges and the course you are interested in doing. If you do not want to take chances, it is better to apply in more than one Australian college or university. In such a scenario, you need to apply on the application form of both colleges and wait for their reply. You can apply directly or go through an education agent to apply in various Australian educational institutions.
Step 02 – Fulfilling the requirements to apply for Australian Student Visa
Once you get confirmation of enrolment in an Australian institution as a student, you become eligible to apply for Australian student visa. This document outlines the date of commencement of the course, course fees and the duration of the course. Now all you need is Australian student visa and to have this all important stamp on your passport, you need to satisfy the requirements of Department of Immigration and Citizenship about your eligibility. These Australian student visa requirements are,
• Genuine student requirement
• Genuine temporary entrant requirement
• Financial requirement
• English proficiency requirement
• Health and character requirement
Step 03 – Deciding the most suitable visa type
Before filling up the form for visa application, it is prudent to know the most suitable type of visa for which you are eligible. You can know about various student visa types on the official website of DIAC with a feature called Visa Finder. Most of the students applying for higher studies in Australia find that the most suitable visa type for them is Higher Education Sector visa (subclass 573). After this, you need to enter the code that has been provided by your college in their confirmation of the enrolment document.
More information on how to apply for Australian student visa
How to lodge the student visa application
You can stay in Australia for the entire duration of your course plus 28 days once you have got Australian student visa. You must be 16 or more to be able to get this visa. This visa is associated with your COE that states your course duration and date of commencement. If you do not know how to lodge an application, you need to apply for Australian student visa through the website of Australian Department of Immigration that is www.immi.gov.au.
Australian student visa cost
You have to pay the required fee of Australian $535 at the time of application through your credit card.
Australian student visa requirements
You have to prove that you are a genuine student and a genuine temporary entrant. You need to convince the authorities that you intend to return after the completion of your course, and you are going there only for the purpose of studies. To assess this requirement, authorities look at the circumstances of applicants in their home country, value of the course for them, their history, etc.
You also need to fulfill financial requirements. This means that you must have sufficient funds to cover for tuition, travel, living, etc. For this, the income proof of the sponsor must be presented to the authorities.
In addition, the applicant must have minimum English proficiency level to be able to communicate and easily study the course. This requirement can be fulfilled with the help of recent scores in various proficiency exams such as TOEFL, IELTS, PTE and CAE.
Documents to be presented to apply for Australian student visa
The following is a checklist of documents that you should submit with your Australian student visa application.
• Proof of sufficient funds
• Letter of Offer or CoE
• Result of English proficiency test
• Proof of payment of visa application fee
• Completed visa application form
• Proof of health and health insurance
• Result of criminal record check
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