The information presented on these pages is Oz-Study's interpretation of Australian visa regulations.

Please be sure to confirm its accuracy with an Australian Embassy or Consulate, or the Australian Department of Immigration and Multi-cultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) before making decisions or taking action based upon the information contained within.

If you have any questions regarding the most suitable visa for your visit to Australia please contact your nearest Australian mission or send us your question via the Help Desk page and we will reply to you personally.

Who to contact
Contact the Australian Embassy or Consulate in your home country to receive an application form. You must have already enrolled in a course in Australia, and paid tuition fees, before you apply for a student visa. After you pay your tuition fees, your school will issue one of the following:
"Conditional Offer of Enrolment"
"Letter of Offer".

Your chosen institution will post this information to you.

You must show this information when applying for a student visa.

Student Visa Types
Major changes to Australia's Student Visa Program came into effect on 1 July 2001 and continually change. It is important for students to contact the nearest Australian Immigration Office to obtain the most suitable visa for their period of study in Australia.

In most instances students will have to prove their English language proficiency prior to their arrival in Australia to begin their course however there are exceptions including visa Subclass 570 - English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students (ELICOS)which is listed below.

The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) test has been gazetted as an alternative test of English language proficiency to the International Language Testing System (IELTS) test for student visa applicants in select countries.

The student visa class now has seven subclasses. Each subclass is based on the education sector of your principal course of study:

Subclass 570 - English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students (ELICOS)
- This visa subclass is for overseas students undertaking an ELICOS as a stand-alone course, and not as a prerequisite to commencing another course (for example, a degree course).

Subclass 571 - Schools - This visa subclass is for overseas students who wish undertake a course of study at a primary or a secondary school, including both junior and senior secondary school.
- This visa subclass is also for overseas school students participating in a formal registered secondary exchange program. The period of exchange may vary from a minimum of 1 month to a maximum of 1 year.
- To apply for a student visa, secondary exchange students must present an official Acceptance Advice of Secondary Exchange Student (AASES) form. This form is issued by the relevant State/Territory education departments or organisations that satisfy requirements for an exchange registration and are approved to operate their programs.

Subclass 572 - Vocational Education and Training (VET)
- This visa subclass covers certificate I, II, III and IV, Diploma, Advanced diploma and Advanced certificate courses.

Subclass 573 - Higher Education
- This visa subclass covers a Bachelor degree (also known as an under-graduate degree), Associate degree, Graduate certificate, and Graduate diploma.

Subclass 575 - Non-award Foundation Studies/Other
- This visa subclass covers foundation, bridging or other courses that do not lead to the award of a degree, diploma or other formal award.

Length of application process
It can take from one to ten weeks to apply for and receive your student visa depending upon which country you apply from.

Costs
If you apply for a Student Visa, you must pay the correct processing fee which is not refundable if the application is unsuccessful. An application will not be accepted without payment of the processing fee.

Duration
Visas will be granted for the duration of the initial course and include a multiple entry facility for the length of the course. An additional 4 weeks stay will be allowed after your course finishes.

Visa Cancellation
A student visa will be cancelled if a student does not:
-A- Remain enrolled in a registered course; and attend at least 80% of their course, or (where attendance records are not available) a student must achieve academic results which the provider considers to be satisfactory: and
-B- Pay the tuition fees as required by the education provider.

Extending your visa
Your visa is valid for 4 four weeks after the conclusion of your course. It is the responsibility of students who wish to extend their stay in Australia to lodge an application before their current visa expires.

*You must depart Australia on the expiry of your Student (Temporary) Visa as it is not valid for permanent residence. There is cost to extend your student visa and students should ask about this prior to overstaying their visa.

Transferability
It is possible to transfer form a student visa to a visitor visa, providing that you meet the eligibility criteria for receiving a tourist visa.

Study Limitations
You are permitted to study the course for which your visa has been granted. You must satisfy this course's requirements and maintain a valid enrolment, which includes maintaining a not less than 80% attendance record.

Work Limitations
If you are granted a student visa, your initial visa does not allow you to work. You can only be granted permission to work once you have travelled to Australia, produced evidence (a letter from your college) that you have commenced your course, made an application (form 157P) for another visa with permission to work and paid the processing charge. After you have been granted permission to work, you are not permitted to work more than 20 hours a week while the institution offering the course is in session. During official course breaks you are permitted to work on a full-time basis.

Entry criteria/requirements
To be granted a Student (Temporary) Visa, the applicant must:

-A- Be a genuine student applying to enter Australia; that is, to undertake studies, abide by visa conditions and depart on completion of studies and not remain illegally in Australia

-B- Be accepted for a full-time course of study registered by the Australian Government for overseas students.

-C- Have adequate means of support for the period of the course.

-D- Give evidence of adequate arrangements in Australia for health insurance such as Overseas Student Health Cover (OHSC).

Note: Students wishing to enter Australia must also meet Australian health and public interest requirements. Most applicants will need to undergo medical and radiological (x-ray) examinations before a visa is granted.

Tourist Visa (short or long stay)

Introduction
To be granted a Tourist Visa you must show that you are a genuine visitor, that you have no intention of working while you are in Australia and that you have enough money to support yourself during your stay.

Who do I contact?
Visas are available from Australian visa offices such as Australian Embassies, High Commissions and Consulates. They are also available, in ETA form, from travel agents and airlines in certain countries.

Length of application process
It usually takes less than 2 weeks to get a tourist visa.

What is an Electronic Travel Authority(ETA)?
An ETA is an electronically stored authority to travel to Australia for a short stay and no visa label is placed in the passport.

ETA's are available from participating travel agencies when making travel arrangements, or though participating airlines, as well as at Australia visa offices overseas.

Who can get an ETA?
ETAs are available to holders of the following passports approved for ETA's: Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong SAR, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, AUK-British Citizen, UK-British National (overseas), USA and the Vatican.

Important Note: Holders of Taiwan passports can only be processed for an ETA if resident in and applying in Taiwan. Holders of UK passports which indicate their nationality to be a British National (overseas) cannot be processed for an ETA by a travel agent or airline outside Hong Kong.

ETAs are available for tourism and short stay business purposes. Tourist ETA's and short validity, single entry business ETAs, are free of any Government charge. There is a charge for long validity business entry ETA's.

Non-electronic visas or label visas
If you do not hold a passport approved for an ETA, you will need to apply for a 'label' visa. There are two main types of short stay 'label' visas.
Tourist visas - usually provide for a stay of up to 3 months on each visit. However, in limited circumstances it is possible to obtain a tourist visa for a stay of more than 3 months. A non-refundable Australian Government application fee may be charged.
A tourist visa does not permit you to work in Australia.

What are the conditions?
The conditions on a Visitor ETA are:
-It is valid for visits to Australia for tourism or to visit friends or relatives
-It is valid for multiple visits within 12 months from date of issue
The maximum length of each visit is three months
You may not work while in Australia.

Extending your Visa
If you need a further period of stay you must apply to an office of the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (DIMA) in Australia before your current visa expires. A fee is payable when the application is lodged.

Study Limitations
You must NOT undertake formal study in an Australian university, high school or TAFE college course while in Australia. You may undertake non-formal study-short-term courses of up to 3 months (12 weeks), which are recreational or personal-enrichment in nature, and not subsidised by the government. These include ELICOS = English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students.

Introduction
If you are a citizen of the following countries:
United Kingdom
Canada
Netherlands
Japan
Republic of Ireland
Republic of Korea
Malta
Germany
Denmark
Sweden
Norway
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) of the People's Republic of China
Finland
Republic of Cyprus
France
Italy
Belgium Estonia
Taiwan
you may apply for a Working Holiday Visa for travel to Australia.
Generally working holiday visas are granted to single people between the ages of 18 and 25, although exceptions can be made.

To be granted this visa you will have to show that your main reason for coming to Australia is for a holiday, and that any work you do is only to support yourself while you travel. You will also have to show that you have a good chance of finding temporary employment to supplement your holiday funds. Full-time work, for longer than three months with one employer is not allowed.

A Working Holiday Visa will allow you to travel to and from Australia for a period of twelve months.

Note: You may need to take out private medical insurance while you are in Australia, as you may not be covered by Australian medical benefits or social security benefits.

Who to contact
Contact the Australian mission in your home country (Embassy or Consulate) to receive an application form.

Length of application process
It can take around four to six weeks to obtain a Working Holiday visa.

Costs
The Australian mission overseas will tell you how much the fee is for a working holiday visa.

Duration
A working holiday visa is issued for a duration of twelve months exactly.

Extending your Visa
From 1 November 2005, certain working holidaymakers may be eligible to apply for a second working holiday visa however to be granted a further stay as a visitor you must;

-A- have exceptional reasons for seeking to extend your stay as a visitor;

-B-have complied with the conditions of your working holiday visa; and

-C-be able to meet the criteria for a visitor visa.

For more information Oz-Study always recommends to check with the Department of Immigration, Multicultural and Indigineous Affairs (DIMIA) office in Australia for the latest information however more information can be found in the Working Holiday maker section of the Oz-Study.com website.

Transferability
You may apply to change your working holiday status if you meet all the requirements for another class of entry permit. However, people possessing another type of visa may not change their status in Australia to a working holiday visa.
You can change to a student visa if you are from a gazetted country.

Overseas Health Cover
You will need to take out private medical insurance to cover you while you are in Australia, as you will not be covered by Australian medical benefits or social security benefits, unless there is a reciprocal arrangement between Australia and your country of citizenship.

Study Limitations
You are permitted to enrol in a short-term English Language Course (12 weeks).You are not permitted to enrol in formal studies (University, TAFE etc).

Work Limitations
Full time work of up to 6 months duration per employer is permitted. You may work for more than one employer during the 12-month period.