Applying for a student visa in Australia? BYD Education & Immigration Consultants registered agents and education consultant in Brisbane help with your CoE, Genuine Student evidence, OSHC and funds. Book a consult.
A student visa lets you live in Australia and study a full-time course. Almost every international student needs the Student visa (subclass 500), and to get it you’ll need a confirmed enrolment, evidence you’re a genuine student, health cover, enough money, and English at the level your course requires. Get those right and it’s a clear process. Get the Genuine Student evidence or the funds wrong and the visa gets refused, which is the most common way a study plan falls over before it starts.
Our qualified education consultant and registered migration agents in Brisbane help students choose the right course and lodge a clean 500 application. Here’s how the student visa works.
The Student visa (subclass 500) is a temporary visa that lets you stay in Australia for the length of your course. On it you can study full-time, work within the allowed limits, and in many cases bring your family. It covers study at every level, from English-language courses and vocational training through to university degrees and research.
You apply for the 500 after you have a place in a registered course. It’s tied to that enrolment, so the visa and the course choice really are one decision, not two. That’s why we look at both together from the start.
To be granted the subclass 500, you generally need to show that you have:
A Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE). This is proof you have a place in a registered full-time course. You need it before you lodge.
Genuine Student evidence. You have to show your main reason for coming to Australia is to study, backed by your study plan, background and circumstances.
Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC). Health insurance for the whole length of your stay. It’s mandatory, and the department checks it.
Enough funds. Evidence you can cover tuition, living costs and travel for yourself and any family with you.
English language ability. At the level your course and provider require, usually shown with an accepted test unless you’re exempt.
Health and character checks. Including any required medicals and police clearances.
Each of these has detail behind it, and a weakness in any one can sink the application. The two that trip students up most often are the Genuine Student evidence and the funds, and those are exactly where we spend the most time with you.
The Genuine Student requirement replaced the old Genuine Temporary Entrant test, and it’s the heart of a student visa decision. The department wants to be satisfied that you’re coming to Australia mainly to study, that your course makes sense for your background and goals, and that your circumstances stack up.
You demonstrate it through a written statement and supporting evidence: your study history, why you chose this course and provider, how it fits your career, your ties and situation back home, and your plans. Thin or generic answers here are a leading reason student visas are refused. We help you put together evidence that’s honest, specific and consistent, so a case officer can see you’re a real student.
OSHC is health insurance you’re required to hold for the entire time you’re on a student visa. It’s not optional, and it has to cover your whole stay, including any family you bring. We help you arrange appropriate cover so it’s sorted before you lodge, rather than becoming a last-minute problem. Our OSHC Guide explains how it works.
You need to show you can genuinely cover tuition, living costs and travel. The figures and the accepted evidence change, and case officers look closely at where the money comes from and whether it’s genuinely available to you. Because the required amounts and rules move, we’ll confirm the current figures and the strongest way to evidence your funds for your situation. What matters is that the money is real, available, and clearly documented.
Most students need to show English at the level their course and provider require, usually with an accepted test such as IELTS, PTE or TOEFL. Some students are exempt, for example based on prior study in English. The exact score depends on your course and whether you’re taking a packaged English course first. We’ll tell you what you need and help you plan around it.
Student visa holders can usually work a capped number of hours while their course is in session, and more during scheduled breaks. The cap changes from time to time, so we’ll confirm the current limit with you rather than quoting a number that might be out of date. Work rights help with living costs, but your study has to come first, since that’s the basis of the visa.
You can often include family members, such as a partner or dependent children, in your student visa application. There are extra requirements, funds and OSHC to account for, and school-age children may face schooling costs. We’ll walk you through what including family means for your application.
The course you pick shapes everything that follows, including your later migration options. It’s tempting to choose on price or a friend’s recommendation, but the right course depends on your goals, budget and background. As a qualified education agent counsellor, our education consultant helps you choose a course and provider that fit you, not just the easiest place to get a CoE. Start with our Study in Australia page, or read about how we work on the Education Consultant page.
A lot of our students aren’t only thinking about study. They’re thinking about staying. The right course can lead to a Temporary Graduate visa (485) with full work rights after you finish, and graduate experience can feed into skilled migration later. Because we do both education and migration, we plan that journey with you from the start.
We help you choose a course and provider that fit your goals and support your later plans.
We manage your enrolment and get your Confirmation of Enrolment in place.
We prepare your Genuine Student statement and evidence so it’s honest and convincing.
We sort your OSHC and guide you on the current funds and English requirements.
We lodge your subclass 500 and, if you’re onshore, manage any bridging visa.
It’s the main visa international students use to study full-time in Australia. It lets you live in Australia for the length of your course, work within the allowed limits, and in many cases bring your family.
You need to show you can cover tuition, living costs and travel for yourself and any family with you. The required amount changes, so we’ll give you the current figure and help you evidence your funds properly, since case officers look closely at where the money comes from.
Yes. Student visa holders can usually work a capped number of hours while their course is running, and more during scheduled breaks. The cap changes from time to time, so we’ll confirm the current limit with you.
It’s the requirement to show your main reason for coming to Australia is to study. You demonstrate it through your study plan, background and circumstances. Weak evidence here is one of the most common reasons student visas are refused, so it’s worth getting right.
Yes. Overseas Student Health Cover is mandatory for the whole time you’re on a student visa, and it must cover any family you bring. The department checks it, so it needs to be in place before you lodge.
Yes. You generally need a CoE from a registered course before you lodge your student visa. We manage your enrolment with the provider so your CoE is ready.
In many cases, yes. You can often include a partner or dependent children, though there are extra funds, health cover and sometimes schooling costs to account for. We’ll talk you through what it means for your application.
It depends on your course and provider, and some students are exempt based on prior study in English. Most students show an accepted test such as IELTS, PTE or TOEFL. We’ll tell you the level you need and help you plan for it.
Not automatically, but the right course can lead to a Temporary Graduate visa (485) with full work rights, and graduate experience can support a skilled migration application later. Planning this early makes a real difference.
Yes. Whether you want to change course, extend or renew your student visa, or move toward a graduate or skilled visa, we help students already onshore as well as those applying from overseas.
