Keys to your student visa in Australia

If you are planning your future in Australia this guide will give you everything you need to know about the process. There are many steps, documents, information and decisions to make, we try to help you and explain everything as simple as possible.

Don’t forget that if you need help we are here for you! Write to us and we will advise you for free throughout this process, looking for the best course alternatives, enrolling, advising you on the best options for you and applying for your visa.

CONTACT PURAVIDA STUDY

The first step is to contact us or the study agency of your choice for a first conversation in which you should tell us a little about yourself, your studies and previous work experience, how long you want to come, what city, what you would like to study, your level of English, budget and more.

With this information, we will be able to recommend you your best options, show you what best fits your profile and send you different quotes. At this stage, we strongly recommend that you get informed about Australia, read our blog, look for videos on Youtube, listen to the Podcast Cachai Australia and decide what you want to study in the most informed way possible.

We register you for the course, coordinate everything so that you make the payment to the school (you can do it directly or through us) and you must send us the necessary documents to start the visa application process.

DOCUMENTS

The following documents are required to apply for a Student Visa in Australia:

• Valid passport, you must send a good quality photo of your passport.
• Information about your trips, we will send you a document where you must add this information, it is important to detail the country you visited, the date of entry and exit, of all trips in the last 10 years.
• A letter of Intent (written in English), is known as GTE Letter and it is a very important document where you must explain why you want to study in Australia, why that course (and that school) and why you will return to your country. For more details on how to write it check this blog post.
• Complete personal information, we will send you a document where you must add your personal information, family information, country of residence, previous jobs, and more.
• Proof of relationship (for couples) (Translated to English), you must send documents that prove and demonstrate the relationship, joint rental contract, shared accounts, marriage certificate, documents with photos of the couple in different years and more. They must be translated by a Naati* translator.
• Documents of your previous studies (Translated into English), documents of your previous studies, university, technical, diploma or whatever you have. They must be translated into English by a Naati* translator.
• Previous work documents (Translated into English), when you fill in your personal information you must detail your previous work, along with it you must send documents such as a work contract, payment documents and ideally a letter of recommendation.
• COE, this is an official government document that your school will give you once you have been accepted and have made the payment, it accredits your studies and the date of duration.
• Proof of funds, we will develop this point in detail below.

*Naati translators are certified translators approved by the Australian government, you can contact some of them by searching the internet or Facebook groups of people living in Australia (search for them as Chilenos/ Argentinians/ Peruvians/ Colombians/ etc in Australia, or in X city in Australia).

FUNDS

Although in the list of migration requirements they do not explicitly ask for documents to prove funds, they do need to know that the applicant has enough money to pay for the course and live in Australia. When reviewing your visa, migration may either ask for a document or reject it for lack of proof of funds. For this reason, we recommend adding to your visa application a personal bank or guarantor statement, with an amount equivalent to $2,070 AUD for each month of visa.

This is a calculation based on the average cost of living in this country, including the ability to pay for the course you are enrolled in. In the case of adding a partner, the equivalent of AUD $670 for each month of the visa must also be taken into account.

If you will be submitting funds from a guarantor you must send us proof of funds, with a photo of their passport and a document where this person declares that they will support you financially (we will send it to you, you just have to add the details and sign).

COVID

Currently Australia only requires proof of 2 doses of Covid vaccinations. It is important to get the international vaccination certificate and complete the digital passenger declaration before your flight (and upload the proof of vaccination). The approved vaccines are:
• Pfizer
• Moderna
• Johnson & Johnson
• Novavax
• AstraZeneca

If you are coming from South America (especially Argentina and Peru, but also other countries) you might be asked for a yellow fever vaccination certificate when entering Australia, this is quite random so we recommend having that vaccination certificate as well.

PATIENCE

We know that the visa process generates a lot of anxiety and that the desire to travel to Australia is very great, but due to the large number of people applying for visas the approval process is taking between 40 and 90 days, and it is IMPOSSIBLE to really know how long it will take. Migration deadlines are only handled by them and they might even ask for more documentation or medical examinations.

Therefore we recommend:

• DO NOT buy tickets until you have your visa approved, if you want to buy them before anyway, be flexible to change them if necessary.
• Take advantage of this time to practise your English, the better level you have, the better jobs you will be able to find and the friendlier your adaptation process will be. Watch series and films in English, listen to music and podcasts in English and try to practice as much as possible.
• Research the city you are coming to and find out about Australia and your possibilities here. Read blogs, search for videos or explore on Google Maps, so you have an idea of where you will live and what the best options are.

We hope this guide is useful for you, you can contact us here or send us an email at info@puravidastudy.com.au you can also follow us on our social networks, especially Instagram.