Obligations for Australian Student Visa. Know Before You Apply

A student visa is a foremost requirement if you are planning to pursue any kind of academic education in Australia. The Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) is a government body which is responsible for granting all kind of student and work visas. It looks after immigration, entry, residence, ethnic affairs, and border control. In order to become eligible for studying in Australia, one must fulfill all the requirements that DIBP mandates to procure subclass 500 (student visa).

Student aspiring to study in Australia is required to choose a course from any Australian University that he/she likes to study in, receive a letter of offer and an electronic Confirmation of Enrollment (eCoE). Only once the student receives a letter of confirmation from a certain University, he/she will be able to apply for Student visa subclass 500. This all must be completed prior to applying for Australian immigration. Next, comes the entry requirements that DIBP holds as standards for granting a visa to eligible students.

Genuine Temporary Entrant (GTE) Requirement

It is a verification of a student applicant whether the plea for a visa is genuine and is requested for only temporary stay. Any dependents or guardians accompanying the student also undergo this verification process as per the government rules of Australia. The DIBP officials perform certain checks to consider the application of the student. The factors mentioned under Section 499 Ministerial Direction Number 69 guide the decision makers to grant or reject the application. Those are:

• Visa applicant’s circumstances in his/her home country 
• Potential circumstances for the applicant in Australia
• Value of course chosen by the applicants for their future prospects
• Immigration history of the student visa applicant and the guardian accompanying, if any
• Other relevant matters  
• Intention of the guardian or dependent traveling along

These are the six major factors that are undertaken to decide the eligibility and granting Australia student visa to the applicant. Moreover, the applicant may be asked to give an interview at the Australian embassy for further verifications.

Financial Requirements for Student Visa

A bank statement is asked as an evidence for checking the applicant’s financial stability to bear the travel, living and study cost for atleast 12 months, failing to generate which, may lead to the rejection of visa. One can choose either of the two proofs to provide financial stability:

12 months’ Fund Option (living cost for 1 year)

Evidence of financial stability which includes bank balance, FDs, policies, loans (government or financial institutions), scholarship if any.

English Proficiency Verification

Students applying for higher education in foreign countries are obligated to clear IELTS, TOEFL, PTE or Cambridge Certificate in Advanced English. This test checks the English Language skills of students to prove, they understand the language of the country they have applied for. Advisably, the student must try to achieve a minimum of 6.0 band or above to avail best learning experience.

Health Evidence

Having a health insurance and generating vivid proof of your good health to match the Australian health standards strengthens your visa application. Applicants may be asked to undergo certain medical examinations in order to produce reports from accredited doctors. International students are also requested to purchase Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) that includes medical and hospital insurance while your tenure in University abroad.

Character Certificate

DIBP stipulates for visa applicants to have a good character and must be able to generate penal clearance certificate as a proof that the person is devoid of any criminal records. Most of the times DIBP mandates to fill the Character Statutory Declaration Form if they don’t find substantial proof of character judgment.

Once the student is through with all the above-mentioned proofs/documents and most importantly able to generate them on time, student visa procurement becomes quite easy if the submitted information holds true in every form.