Student visas

Study is a pathway, not just a visa

Most people who come to us about a student visa are not really asking about studying. They are asking whether study can lead somewhere permanent. It often can, but only if the first step is chosen with the last one in mind.

The usual shape looks like this:

1. Student visa (subclass 500) — while you complete a registered course.
2. Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485) — work rights after you finish, and the chance to build Australian work experience.
3. A skilled or employer sponsored visa — using the qualification, the experience and the points the first two steps produced.

The course you enrol in at step one decides how much of step three is available to you. A qualification that does not lead to a skills assessment in your occupation is a very expensive detour, and it is the single most common thing we wish people had asked about earlier.

What it costs in 2026–27

Student visa charges vary by sector, which surprises people:

• Most students, and postgraduate research — AUD 2,500. Each additional adult AUD 1,530, each child AUD 500.
• ELICOS and Non-Award students — AUD 2,050. Each additional adult AUD 1,255, each child AUD 410.
• Foreign Affairs or Defence sponsored students, and secondary exchange students — no charge.

The number that catches people out is the one at the other end. The Temporary Graduate visa is AUD 5,750 — more than double the student visa that got you here — with each additional adult at AUD 2,875. A second Post-Higher Education Work application is AUD 2,265.

If you are budgeting a study-to-work plan, budget for both.

What the Department is assessing

A student visa application is not simply a check that you have been accepted somewhere. Five things have to hold together:

• A confirmation of enrolment from a registered provider for each course.
• The Genuine Student requirement — whether your study plan makes sense for you, given your background, your history and where the course actually leads.
• Financial capacity — evidence you can cover tuition, living costs and travel without relying on work you are not yet permitted to do.
• English — at the level required for your course and circumstances.
• Overseas Student Health Cover for the duration of your stay.

Work rights come with the visa, but they are capped per fortnight during study. They are not a substitute for showing you can afford to be here.

Where student applications come unstuck

• The course does not fit the story. A senior professional enrolling in an unrelated entry-level diploma invites an obvious question, and it needs answering in the application rather than after a refusal.
• Financial evidence appears from nowhere. A balance that arrives in a lump the week before lodging is treated differently from savings with a history behind them.
• A previous refusal is not addressed. Earlier refusals do not disappear. They need explaining, directly.
• Changing provider mid-course without checking the conditions. There are restrictions, and breaching them puts the visa at risk.

Bringing family with you

A student under 18 generally needs an appropriate guardian arrangement in place, and the Student Guardian visa (subclass 590) exists for a parent or relative accompanying them.

Partners and children of adult students are a separate question, and the rules around who can be included have tightened in recent years. Worth checking your specific situation rather than relying on what applied to somebody else a few years ago.