Applying for a student visa
How to apply for your first student visa.
Department of Home Affairs (DHA) update on visa processing
- If you are waiting for your visa approval, please check your ImmiAccount regularly and act quickly on requests for further information or documentation. Delayed action may result in your application being declined and a two-year wait to reapply.
- If you haven’t started your visa application, make sure that your application is complete and includes all relevant documents before submitting.
Before you apply
- Ensure you have received an offer of study, submitted your Student Acceptance and Payment Agreement and received a Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE).
- Read the Department of Home Affairs website carefully and refer to their page on student visas and COVID-19.
- Consider using one of the University’s official overseas representatives if you need guidance and support with the application process.
Gather your documents
For a student visa application, you'll usually need to prepare evidence including:
- Your passport
- Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE)
- Evidence of Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC)
- A Genuine Temporary Entrant (GTE) statement
- Evidence of English language proficiency
- Evidence of funds
- Completed health examinations
- Biometrics (for certain countries). You will be given 14 days to provide biometrics, so it is important to arrange an appointment quickly using the instructions in the request letter.
Use the following tools on the Department of Home Affairs website to find out more about these and any other documents you may be required to include with your student visa application:
Your documents should be colour scanned and saved as PDFs, with certified translations if the original document isn’t in English. If you don’t provide these documents with your application, it may result in requests for further information, which will add 28 days to your visa processing time.
See the Department of Home Affairs website for more information to help you prepare your application.
Submitting your visa application
Visa application charge (filing fee)
You will have to pay a visa application charge unless you will receive partial or full funding for your study under a Commonwealth government training scheme or scholarship.
If you will receive Commonwealth funding, indicate this on your visa application form. If you incorrectly state that you are receiving Commonwealth funding or scholarships when you are not, your visa application will be invalid. Please note the Research Training Program Scholarship does not grant a visa application charge waiver.
Bringing your family with you
If you’re bringing any family with you, including children, be sure to include them on any applications. Learn more about bringing your family with you.
Approximate processing time frames
Application processing times can vary greatly depending on time of year, volume of applications, and which home country you're coming from. We recommend looking at the Department of Home Affairs website for indicative processing times. It is updated regularly.
Please ensure you have allowed adequate time for your visa application to be processed between your admittance into the course and your intended start date. You should aim to submit your visa application no later than four to six weeks prior to your course commencement. If you leave it any later than this, processing times may impact your enrolment.
If your details change
If your circumstances change while your visa application is being processed, or if you realise that you've provided incorrect information, you can complete a notification of incorrect answers in ImmiAccount.
If your passport changes, inform the Department of Home Affairs via a change of passport details, and provide us with your new passport details as well.