Study in Australia: Student Visa Application Process and Checklist
After applying for a student visa to Australia, your application is processed by the Australian High Commission, New Delhi. However, now the student visa application process has been replaced with SVP (Streamlined Visa Processing) from the previous PVA (Pre-Visa Assessment). So, now the students who are eligible to obtain a student visa are required to apply under SVP.
Once a decision has been made by the authorities after verifying your documents, the visa decision is intimated to the applicant electronically via email. If your visa is approved, you will get a grant letter to your nominated postal and/or email address. It is generally recommended that you print this letter and keep it with you when you travel to and from Australia. Your grant letter contains the visa grant number, the validity date of your visa, and the visa conditions. If your visa is not approved, the department will send you a notification letter containing the reasons for the refusal, your review rights, and the limit of lodging an appeal. Understanding the steps to obtain the Australian Student Visa:
1. Acceptance or offer letter – Obtaining the acceptance or offer letter from the university or college you wish to pursue your degree from is the first step. Without an acceptance letter, you will not be eligible to obtain a student visa.
2. Evidence of financial support - Once your application has been accepted and you have received your offer letter, you will be asked to show them your funds to study abroad. The Assessment Level (course subclass) of the student determines the number of funds required, the provider of funds and how long the funds must be held.
3. Obtaining the COE – You will receive the confirmation of enrolment (COE) only after paying the tuition fees of the university/college you wish to study at. A COE confirms that an international student is eligible to enrol on a course and start the process of an Australian student visa. This will outline your course start date, total course fees and total duration of the course.
4. Medical Examination – It is mandatory to take a medical examination for obtaining a student visa in Australia. You will need to undergo a medical examination by one of the doctors approved by Immigration Australia.
The visa application is to be done online by creating an account on the immigration website. The documents required to upload as per the document tool checklist are given as below:
Checklist for Australia Visa
- Completed visa application form
- Visa application fee payable by bank draft has drawn in favour of “Australian High Commission, New Delhi”
- Nomination form 956 is to be completed only if you are lodging through an agent
- The e-COE (Electronic-Confirmation Of Enrolment) from the institution, after receiving the payment of 1st Semester Fee
- Passport – original passport is not required
- Four recent passport-size photographs
- Statement of purpose
- IELTS/TOEFL/PTE Scores
- Academic certificates (All Mark sheets, Certificates, Degrees, and Diplomas)
- “Details of Relatives” form
- Medical certificates
- Guardianship form, if the student Age is under 18 years
- Reference letter from current employer and previous employer, if employed
- Affidavit of support from sponsor
- Affidavit of support from student
- Bank statement/bank passbook for the last 3 months and current balance certificate
- Income Tax returns of the sponsor for the last 3 years
- Details of acceptable funds in the form of a table/matrix
- Evidence of relationship with the sponsor
- Property documents along with valuation report
- Bank loan sanction letter (if applicable)
- Other liquid assets like fixed deposits, etc