Studying in Australia means holding the right visa for the whole time you are here, and often for a period afterwards. Most people come in on a student visa, and many later look at what comes next.
This page covers the study visas and the pathways that commonly follow.
The main student visa. It requires enrolment in a registered course, evidence that you can support yourself, health cover, and a genuine intention to study. Conditions attach to it, including limits on how much you can work.
For a parent or an approved guardian accompanying a student who is under 18, or who needs a guardian for another reason. The guardian is not permitted to study in the same way a student can, and the visa carries its own conditions.
A student visa ends. Planning for what follows well before it does is the difference between a smooth transition and a scramble.
For recent graduates of Australian qualifications, allowing a period of work after study. It has more than one stream, and eligibility depends on what and where you studied and how recently you finished.
Many graduates move into the skilled program or into employer sponsored visas. Both take preparation, and both are easier to plan for while you still hold a valid visa.
Student visa applications are assessed on whether you genuinely intend to study. Decision makers look at your circumstances at home, your study history, the course you have chosen and how it fits what you have done before, and your immigration history.
This is where a large share of refusals happen, and it is rarely about the paperwork being missing. It is about the account not hanging together. A course that has no relationship to previous study or work, without an explanation, invites questions.
Work hour limits apply and they are enforced. Breaching them puts the visa at risk.
Enrolment has to be maintained. Deferring, dropping below full time load or changing provider without dealing with the visa side creates problems.
Health cover has to be held for the whole stay.
Course changes can affect the visa, particularly early in a course or where the change moves you to a different level of study.
Students often come to us after a breach has already happened, or after a refusal. There are usually options, and they are almost always better the earlier they are taken. A notice from your provider or from the department is not something to wait on.
We advise on student visa applications, on the conditions that apply once you hold one, on what to do when a course or a circumstance changes, and on the pathways available after study.
Where a visa has been refused or cancelled, we can advise on the review options.
We will tell you plainly what we think your prospects are. We cannot promise an outcome.
Call 1300 368 933 to talk through your situation with an immigration lawyer.
