Student visa (subclass 500)

If you are a school student (but not participating in a secondary school student exchange program), you must be aged 6 or older to apply for this visa.

You must also be:

• less than 17 years old when you begin Year 9
• less than 18 years old when you begin Year 10
• less than 19 years old when you begin Year 11 
• less than 20 years old when you begin Year 12 

You must include the right evidence of enrolment in study with your Student visa application, or your application will not be valid and can't be processed.

Providing a Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE)

You must be enrolled in a full time course registered on the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and courses for Overseas Students (CRICOS).

You must provide a Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE) for all intended courses when you apply.

If you do not provide a CoE at time of lodgement, the student visa application will be invalid.

Your CoE must be valid when we decide your application. A CoE is no longer valid if it is cancelled or the course is complete. If you finish your course, but still require a student visa, you will need to attach a new CoE to your ImmiAccount. You must maintain enrolment in a course of study to be eligible for a student visa.

Packaged courses and CoEs

If you are applying for more than one (1) course in your Student visa application, you must include all CoE codes in the application form, as your visa period may only consider the duration of the course according to the CoE provided.

You can apply to include two (2) or more courses on your Student visa where one course clearly leads to the next.  Course gaps must be less than two calendar months, unless the first course finishes at the end of the standard academic year and the next course commences at the beginning of the standard academic year.

If you want your Student visa to cover more than one (1) course you must include all CoE codes in your visa application form, or your visa may only cover the CoE provided.

Other evidence of enrolment 

You do not need to provide a Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE) if you are: 

• enrolled in a full-time course of study or training under a scholarship scheme approved by the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade: provide a letter of support
• sponsored by the Australian Department of Defence: provide a letter of support
• a secondary exchange student: provide an Acceptance Advice of Secondary Exchange Student (AASES) form
• a postgraduate research student who needs to stay in Australia while your thesis is marked: provide a letter from your education provider

If you are applying for a Student visa and you are under 18 years of age, you must have adequate welfare arrangements in place while you are in Australia.

If you will be 18 years of age when you arrive in Australia, you must tell us as you might not need to provide some of this information.

To learn more, see Welfare arrangements for students under 18.

You might need to provide evidence of your English language skills at the time you submit your visa application. To find out the evidence you need to provide, use the Document Checklist tool.

Note: We can ask you for evidence of your English language skills after you have submitted your application, at any time while we are processing your application, even if the Document Checklist tool shows that you don't need to provide evidence of your English language skill when you submit your application. 

If you need to provide evidence of your English language skills, you must provide evidence that you:

• have obtained a certain test score in an English language test that the Department has approved, or
• fall into an exemption category listed below.

For more information on the minimum overall band scores you must achieve to meet the Student visa English language requirements, go to Gather Documents in the 'Step by Step'.

You and your family members must have and maintain adequate health insurance for the whole of your stay in Australia. To find out the length of coverage you will require, see Student visa grant periods.

You and your family members must be covered by Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) from an approved Australian health insurance provider, unless an 'Exception' applies.

Applicants outside Australia

Your cover must start from the day you and your family arrive in Australia, not the day your course starts.

If you have been granted a visa and want to travel to Australia before your course begins, the OSHC start date must be the same as the date you arrive, not the date your course starts. Generally this is a minimum of 1 week to 1 month before your course starts. 

You must: 

• ensure you don't enter Australia before your OSHC begins, and
• maintain your OSHC until you leave Australia.

You may be refused entry to Australia if you cannot prove you have health insurance in place when you arrive.

Applicants in Australia

Applicants must have OSHC. If your previous visa required you to have health insurance, cover must be continuous with  no gap between your previous health cover and your OSHC.

Exceptions

You do not need to have OSHC if you are:

• a Norwegian student covered by the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme
• a Swedish student covered by Kammarkollegiet
• a Belgian student covered under the Reciprocal Health Care Agreement with Australia

How to get Overseas Student Health Cover

To get OSHC:

• find an approved provider
• pay for your policy

Your education provider or agent might arrange OSHC for you. 

If your education provider arranges your OSHC coverage, you will need to know the name of your health insurance provider, the date that your policy starts and finishes and should be aware of the terms and conditions of your policy. Your education provider will also need to include your health insurance information on your Certificate of Enrolment (CoE).

If you arrange OSHC coverage yourself, you will need to know the policy number to include in the visa application.

We will refuse your visa application if you don't give us this information when you apply for your Student visa. 

Insurance for family members

If you have a single OSHC policy and you have family members, including children born in Australia after your arrival, consider getting a family policy. Every member of your family must have health insurance. 

Any family member who joins you after you arrive in Australia must show us they have OSHC for the duration of their stay in Australia.

You can be in or outside Australia when you apply for the visa. 

You can apply in Australia if you hold a substantive visa except for one of these:

• Temporary Work (International Relations) visa (subclass 403) in the Domestic Worker (Diplomatic or consular) stream
• Domestic Worker (Temporary) Diplomatic and Consular visa (subclass 426)
• Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485)
• Visitor visa (subclass 600)
• Electronic Travel Authority visa (subclass 601) (ETA)
• Medical Treatment visa (subclass 602)
• eVisitor visa (subclass 651)
• Transit visa (subclass 771)
• Maritime Crew visa (subclass 988)
• Diplomatic (Temporary) visa (subclass 995) – primary visa holder only. A family member of a Diplomatic (Temporary) visa (subclass 995) can apply for a Student visa in Australia

If you don’t hold an eligible substantive visa you can apply in 28 days of either:

• holding a Student visa, a special purpose visa, or a dependent Diplomatic (temporary) visa
• being notified by the Tribunal that your visa cancellation has been set aside.

Note: You cannot make a valid application for a Student visa if you do not hold a substantive visa and you have previously been granted a visa based on an application made when you did not hold a substantive visa.

You must have enough money to pay for your stay in Australia. To see the minimum amount of money you need for your visa application go to 'Gather Documents' under Step by Step.

The living costs we ask you to declare and provide with your visa application is the minimum amount of money you need for the visa. Actual living costs vary throughout Australia. They may be much higher than what you need for the visa. We recommend you research the area you intend to live including the cost of living in that area.

You should not rely on work to support yourself or your family while in Australia. The Australian Government Study Australia website provides useful information on accommodation options. It features a cost of living calculator to help you consider other possible costs in addition to the amount required for your visa application.

For more information visit Study Australia.

You must:

• be a genuine student for entry
• be able to show an understanding that studying in Australia is the primary reason of your Student visa.

For more information, see Genuine Student requirement.

You and family members aged 16 years and over who apply for the visa must meet our character requirement.

You and any family members who apply for the visa must meet our health requirement.

If you are 18 years of age or older, you must:

• have read, or had explained to you, the Life in Australia booklet and
• sign an Australian Values Statement that confirms you will respect the Australian way of life and obey Australian laws

If you or any family members (including those who don't apply for the visa with you) owe the Australian government money, you or they must have paid it back or arranged to pay it back.

We will consider your immigration history when we decide on your application, which means you might not be eligible for this visa if you have had a visa cancelled or refused.

If applying for a visa from outside Australia see Can I go to Australia.

If you want immigration assistance, see Who can help with your visa application.

We might not grant this visa if it is not in the best interests of an applicant under 18.