Australia Student Visa (Subclass 500): 2026 Step-by-Step Guide

The Australian student visa is the Subclass 500. One visa covers your whole course, you apply online through the Department of Home Affairs, and the same visa lets you work part time and bring eligible family in some cases. This guide walks through the process in order, with the rules that changed in 2024 and 2025, so you can prepare a clean file the first time. Every requirement here is anchored to the Department of Home Affairs. One honest note up front: no reputable consultant can guarantee a visa, and anyone who promises one is misleading you. What a good file does is remove the avoidable reasons for refusal.

Step by step: offer to visa decision

The order matters, because each step depends on the one before it.

1. Accept your offer and pay the deposit. Your university issues a Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE) only after you accept the offer and pay the required deposit, usually the first semester of tuition. The CoE is the document the visa is built around.
2. Take out OSHC. Overseas Student Health Cover is mandatory for the full length of your Subclass 500 visa, and you usually pay for the whole period upfront. Most students use Bupa, Medibank, Allianz, or NIB.
3. Write your Genuine Student statement. This replaced the old Genuine Temporary Entrant test (see below).
4. Assemble your financial and English evidence. The funds requirement and English thresholds are covered further down.
5. Complete medicals, biometrics, and a Police Clearance Certificate. A panel-clinic medical exam, a biometric appointment at VFS, and a PCC.
6. Submit the Subclass 500 through ImmiAccount. This is the official Department of Home Affairs portal. Do not book non-refundable travel until your visa is granted.

The Genuine Student requirement (what replaced the GTE)

On 23 March 2024, the Department of Home Affairs replaced the Genuine Temporary Entrant (GTE) test with the Genuine Student (GS) requirement. In practice you answer a set structured questions about your circumstances, your choice of course and provider, the value the course adds to your future, and any other relevant points, in your own words.

The shift in framing matters. The GS requirement is less about proving you intend to leave and more about showing you are a genuine student making a considered choice. A strong statement is specific: it connects your past study and any work experience to this exact course at this exact university, and to a credible plan afterwards. Vague, generic, or copied statements are one of the most common reasons files are refused.

The money you must show

Separate from what study actually costs, you must demonstrate access to enough funds. From 10 May 2024, the living-costs component of the financial capacity requirement for a single student is AUD 29,710, which is about 19.9 lakh rupees at June 2026 rates. That figure is on top of one year of tuition and your travel costs.

Two practical points. First, it is not enough to show a balance: since 2024 the documentary standards for proving genuine access to those funds have been applied strictly, so a recently parked lump sum with no explained source is a red flag. Loan sanction letters, genuine savings with a paper trail, and clearly documented income all help. Second, build a buffer above the minimum, because the figure is a floor, not a realistic budget. For a full cost breakdown, see our cost of studying in Australia guide.

English and academic requirements

English thresholds vary by university and course, but a common baseline is IELTS 6.0 overall for many undergraduate programmes and 6.5 overall for most Masters, with equivalent PTE or TOEFL scores accepted. Some programmes and providers set higher bands, and a few accept a wider range of evidence, so always confirm the requirement on your specific offer. Your academic transcripts and certificates complete the academic side of the file.

Working on a Subclass 500

The student visa lets you work, within limits. You can work up to 48 hours per fortnight while your course is in session, and unrestricted hours during scheduled course breaks. Australia's National Minimum Wage is AUD 24.95 an hour to 30 June 2026, rising to AUD 26.44 from 1 July 2026, and casual roles (common for students) pay at least 25 percent more, about AUD 31.19 an hour now and AUD 33.05 from 1 July 2026.

Treat part-time earnings as a buffer for living costs, not a way to fund tuition. The work limit is a condition of your visa, so going over it puts your status at risk.

After you graduate

Most graduates move onto the Temporary Graduate visa (Subclass 485) for post-study work. The 485 changed meaningfully through 2024 to 2026, including a higher application fee and a lower age limit, so plan around the current rules rather than older guidance. We cover them in our Australia 485 post-study work visa guide.

Common reasons for refusal

Almost every avoidable refusal comes back to a small number of issues:

• A weak or generic Genuine Student statement that does not connect your background to this course.
• Financial evidence that is thin, or funds whose source is not explained.
• Gaps or inconsistencies between your statement, your documents, and your study history.
• Incomplete documentation, especially missing OSHC, an unclear CoE, or English scores below the course requirement.

Every one of these is fixable before you submit. We review the full file against the current Department of Home Affairs rules and give you an honest read on your chances before you spend on the application charge. We do not accept files we believe are not ready, because a refusal hurts you and us.

Plan your application properly

The student visa rewards preparation. Build your CoE, OSHC, funds evidence, and Genuine Student statement as one coherent file, not a pile of separate documents. If you want that checked end to end, book a free consultation and our visa team will work through it with you. For the full Australian visa and work-rights overview, see our Australia student visa page.

Sources

The figures and rules in this guide come from official sources, current as of June 2026:

• Department of Home Affairs, Subclass 500 Student visa: visa structure, OSHC requirement, the 48-hours-per-fortnight work limit, and the application charge.
• Department of Home Affairs, Genuine Student requirement: the requirement that replaced the GTE on 23 March 2024.
• Department of Home Affairs, Student visa financial capacity requirements: the AUD 29,710 single-student living-costs requirement from 10 May 2024.
• Fair Work Ombudsman, Minimum wages and the Annual Wage Review 2026: the AUD 24.95 National Minimum Wage to 30 June 2026, the AUD 26.44 rate from 1 July 2026, and the casual loading.

Last updated: 21 June 2026.