Study in Australia on a course of up to 6 years
The Student visa (subclass 500) is a temporary visa for international students enrolled in a registered course of study in Australia.
It's a single-stream visa that covers every level of education, from primary school through to doctoral research. The visa is granted for the duration of the enrolled course, up to a maximum of about 6 years.
To apply, an applicant has to hold a valid Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE) from a CRICOS-registered education provider. They have to satisfy the Genuine Student (GS) requirement. They have to demonstrate adequate financial capacity, and they have to hold Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) for the full visa period (or fall under an exemption). They have to meet the prescribed English language level for the nominated course, and they have to meet IMMI's health and character requirements.
Applicants under 18 also have to have an approved welfare arrangement in place.
The visa allows the holder to study full-time, work up to 48 hours per fortnight when the course is in session, work unlimited hours during scheduled breaks, and travel in and out of Australia for the duration of the visa.
The 2024 to 2026 period has seen significant tightening of the student visa framework.
The Genuine Student (GS) requirement replaced the older Genuine Temporary Entrant (GTE) requirement on 23 March 2024. The 300-word statement is gone, replaced by a targeted questionnaire that explicitly accepts that genuine students may seek permanent residency later.
The visa application charge increased by 25% on 1 July 2025 (refer to the application charge summary on this page for the current amount). The financial capacity requirement has been increased multiple times and is now indexed annually.
Most consequentially, processing priorities are now set by Ministerial Direction. Applications lodged before 14 November 2025 are processed under Ministerial Direction 111. Applications lodged on or after that date are processed under Ministerial Direction 115. Both directions assign education providers to priority tiers, and slow processing once a provider hits a percentage of its allocated places. The combined effect has produced higher refusal rates and longer waits for applicants through lower-priority providers.
The Student visa remains the standard feeder visa into the 485 Temporary Graduate visa and onward skilled migration pathways.
These are the published requirements for the 500. Check each one applies to your situation.
The old Genuine Temporary Entrant (GTE) requirement asked applicants to write a 300-word statement explaining why they would leave Australia after their studies.
That test punished honesty about wanting to seek PR later. It produced a generation of carefully-worded statements that obscured genuine intentions.
The Genuine Student requirement that replaced it is a targeted questionnaire covering specific factors: current circumstances, reasoning behind course and provider choice, why Australia, and post-study plans.
The most consequential shift is that the GS explicitly accepts that genuine students may seek permanent residency later. Honest answers about Australia-based career or migration ambitions are not held against the application under the GS framework, where they often were under the GTE.
The Senate blocked the legislative cap on student numbers in November 2024. The government responded with a sequence of Ministerial Directions: 107, then 111, now 115 from 14 November 2025.
The Directions assign education providers to priority tiers, and slow processing once a provider hits a percentage of its allocated places.
The mechanism isn't a refusal rule, but the effect is similar. Applications through low-priority providers process more slowly. They face more rigorous Genuine Student scrutiny. And they're more likely to time out when the underlying Confirmation of Enrolment lapses.
Refusal rates have risen sharply for applicants through certain provider categories. This particularly affects Indian and Nepali applicants, whose preferred providers concentrate in lower-priority tiers.
The standard work right on a Student visa is 48 hours per fortnight when the course is in session, with unlimited hours during scheduled breaks.
There are two exceptions worth flagging.
Students studying a Masters by research or a doctoral degree have no work-hours limit at any time. Their accompanying family members also have no limit.
The other exception applies to families of students at the next tier down. Family members of students studying a Masters by coursework or a Masters (Extended) can work more than 48 hours a fortnight. The principal student themselves remains capped at 48 hours while the course is in session.
The cap is enforced through employer reporting and ATO income data. Exceeding it is a breach of visa condition 8105 and can trigger cancellation.
A Confirmation of Enrolment is not just paperwork at lodgement. It has to remain valid through to the visa decision.
A CoE that gets cancelled (for example, if the applicant defers, withdraws, or the provider defaults) becomes invalid immediately.
A CoE for a course that has already been completed is similarly invalid.
Applications relying on an invalid CoE will be refused or invalidated, even if all other criteria are met.
Provider defaults during the application processing window have become more common since 2024, as tighter regulation pushes some smaller colleges out of the market. Applicants in this situation have to source a replacement CoE from an alternative provider and notify IMMI immediately.
