Students & Trainees

Australia welcomes unprecedented numbers of international students. There are a number of visas available for people to study or undertake workplace based training and professional development programs.

Student Visas

The Overseas Student Program allows people who are not Australian citizens or Australian permanent residents to study in Australia. You can be granted a Student visa only if you wish to undertake a registered course or part of a registered course on a full-time basis.

A registered course is an education or training course offered by an Australian education provider who is registered with the Australian Government’s Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students (CRICOS) to offer courses to overseas students.

From 1 July 2016, the Simplified Student Visa Framework (SSVF) came into effect. Under the SSVF there is only one Student visa available to study in Australia, regardless of field of study.

Key changes:

all international Students will apply for a Student (Subclass 500) visa regardless of their chosen course and must apply online
new immigration risk framework used to guide the evidence for English language and financial capacity
Student Guardians will apply for the Student Guardian (Subclass 590) visa

Visa Eligibility

A Student (Subclass 500) visa applicant must be able to prove that they are a genuine student by satisfying the key requirements which include:

must be aged 6 or older
enrolled in a CRICOS registered full-time course (offshore eCOE or onshore eCOE or letter of offer)
if aged under 18 must have adequate welfare arrangements in place
meet English language requirements
hold adequate health insurance (OSHC)
declare or demonstrate financial capacity
be a Genuine Student
be of good character (obtain police clearance certificates)
be of sound health (undergo health examinations)
have no outstanding debts to the Commonwealth of Australia.

Financial Capacity

From 10 May 2024, the amount of money that Student visa and Student Guardian visa applicants need to have to be eligible for the visa increased.

Minimum required funds to meet financial capacity requirements:

	Financial capacity requirement before 10 May 2024	Financial capacity requirement after 10 May 2024
Primary Applicant	A$24,505	A$29,710
Spouse or De Facto of the primary applicant (not applicable to Student Guardian)	A$8,574	A$10,394
Dependent Child	A$3,670	A$4,449
Annual School Costs	A$9,661	A$13,502
Personal annual income if there is no member of the family unit	A$72,465	A$87,856
Personal annual income where there is member of the family unit	A$84,543	A$102,500

Onshore Visa Applicant

You can apply in Australia for a Student (Subclass 500) visa if you hold an eligible substantive visa.

The ineligible visas are:

Temporary Work (International Relations) (Subclass 403) visa in the Domestic Worker (Diplomatic or Consular) stream only
Domestic Worker (Subclass 426) visa (Diplomatic and Consular)
Temporary Graduate (Subclass 485) visa
Visitor (Subclass 600) visa
Electronic Travel Authority (Subclass 601) visa (ETA)
Medical Treatment (Subclass 602) visa
eVisitor (Subclass 651) visa
Transit (Subclass 771) visa or
Maritime Crew (Subclass 988) visa
Diplomatic (Subclass 995) visa granted to an applicant who satisfied the primary criteria (only family members holding the Diplomatic visa can validly apply for a Subclass 500 visa)

Working Hours

Student visa work restrictions were relaxed throughout the pandemic, and completely removed in January 2022 to allow primary and secondary Student visa holders to work over their normal limit of 40 hours per fortnight to address workforce shortages.

From 1 July 2023, work restrictions for Student visa holders were re-introduced and capped at the increased rate of 48 hours per fortnight.

This ensures that Student visa holders are able to focus on obtaining a quality Australian education and qualification, while remaining able to support themselves financially, gain valuable work experience, and contribute to Australia’s workforce needs.

As detailed on the Department of Home Affairs website:

Information for students

Student visa holders must continue to balance your study and work commitments even though there is flexibility in the number of hours you can work.

Students must still:

maintain their course enrolment
ensure satisfactory course attendance, and
ensure satisfactory course progress.

Student visa holders who cancel their enrolment and stop attending classes, or fail to meet satisfactory course progress, may be in breach of their visa conditions.

Information for employers

Employers must continue to follow Australian workplace law. Overseas workers, including international students, have the same rights under Australian workplace law as all other employees.

While these measures are in place, the Department of Home Affairs and Australian Border Force will:

exercise their discretion under section 116(1)(b) of the Migration Act 1958. This is to not cancel the visas of students who work more than 40 hours each fortnight to support your organisation
not refer student visa holders for investigation of any potential offence under section 235 of the Migration Act 1958. This might relate to the hours worked by a student visa holder in breach of their visa conditions
not refer you or relevant third-party labour hire companies, as an employer, for investigation of any potential offence under section 245AC of the Migration Act 1958. This might relate to allowing a student visa holder to work in breach of their visa conditions.

Visa Processing Priorities

A new Ministerial Direction for prioritising Student (Subclass 500) visa and Student Guardian (Subclass 590) visa applications was signed on 14 December 2023.

Ministerial Direction No. 107 formalises the Australian Government’s processing priorities for all Student visa applications lodged on or from 15 December 2023, as well as unfinalised applications. It builds on ongoing work to strengthen the integrity of the international education sector.

An Evidence Level is allocated to each Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students (CRICOS) registered education provider. The new Ministerial Direction works with the evidence level framework to prioritise applications from international students wishing to study in Australia.

Ministerial Direction No. 107 provides the highest priority to:

Student (Subclass 500) visa applications lodged outside Australia by:
- Schools sector, Foreign Affairs or Defence sector, and Postgraduate Research sector applicants
- Higher Education, English Language Intensive Course for Overseas Students (ELICOS), Vocational Education and Training (VET), and Non-Award sector applicants studying at an education provider with an Evidence Level 1
subsequent entrant applications lodged outside Australia that include an unmarried family member under 18 years
all Student Guardian visa applications (lodged in or outside Australia).

Any secondary applicant (spouse, de facto partner or dependent child) who is included in the primary visa application will be given the same priority as the primary applicant.

Where the primary applicant intends to undertake two or more courses of study (course packaging), the application will be given the order of priority that applies to the principal course of study (i.e. the course of study with the highest Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) level).

Student visa applications lodged in Australia will continue to be processed according to existing processing arrangements.

Ending Onshore Visa Hopping

On 12 June 2024, the Minister for Home Affairs published a media release that announces further changes to the migration system. These changes are to stop what is referred to in the Migration Strategy and the media release as “visa hopping” where temporary visa holders continue to apply for further temporary visas onshore to extend their stay in Australia with little prospect of becoming permanent residents.

As a measure to restrict visa hopping the media release outlines the following changes to commence from 1 July 2024:

Visitor visa holder will not be able to apply for a Student (Subclass 500) visa onshore
Temporary Graduate (Subclass485) visa holder will not be able to apply for a Student (Subclass 500) visa onshore

The legislative instruments that will bring about these changes have not yet been released, an update will be provided once they are released.

2025 Student Levels Announced

On 27 August 2024, the Minister for Education, Minister for Home Affairs and Immigration, and Acting Minister for Skills and Training, announced that the Government is strengthening the integrity and sustainability of the international education sector by setting limits on the number of international students that can be enrolled by international education providers.

The Government (subject to the passage of legislation before the Parliament) is setting a National Planning Level (NPL) for new international Student commencements of 270,000 for calendar year 2025 (where previously, there was no cap).

The NPL will be divided between:

Higher Education sector (publicly-funded universities) – 145,000 slots
Other universities and non-university higher education providers – 30,000 slots
Vocational Education and Training (VET) sectors – 95,000 slots

The following are excluded from the NPL:

School students
Higher degree by research students
Students undertaking standalone English language courses (ELICOS)
non-award Students
Australian Government sponsored scholars
Students that are part of an Australian transnational education arrangement or twinning arrangement
key partner foreign government scholarship holders
Students from the Pacific and Timor-Leste