Straight answers to the questions students ask us most

A new student visa application from outside Australia is AUD $2,000, the same for every passport. It is AUD $1,800 for a new client already in Australia, and AUD $1,500 if Studyaway has lodged a visa for you before. It covers course application, enrolment, CoE (Confirmation of Enrolment), OSHC (Overseas Student Health Cover), visa application support with Registered Migration Agent access, and pre-departure. A Career Consultation is AUD $199 and is credited to any Studyaway service. Every price is on the Pricing page, and you always know before you commit.

Checked 22 October 2026.

The Department of Home Affairs applies the student visa (subclass 500) charge by the passport used in the application and by the course.

AUD $745: a passport from the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu or Vanuatu, for any course.

AUD $2,050: a passport from one of 10 ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries, for any course. The 10 are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

AUD $2,050: any other passport, for a student taking only an English course (ELICOS) or a non-award course.

AUD $2,500: other applicants.

Each family member on the same application pays an additional charge. If you apply in Australia, an extra AUD $700 may apply (the subsequent temporary application charge). Source: Migration Regulations 1994, Schedule 1, item 1222(2), amounts in force from 1 July 2026. Charges typically change each 1 July. We confirm the current figure before anything is lodged.

Checked 7 October 2026.

Enough for your travel, your first 12 months of tuition, and AUD $29,710 for 12 months of living costs. As a guide, the Department of Home Affairs suggests AUD $2,000 for travel from most countries. You need more if your partner or children are included in your application. Instead of savings, you can show that a parent or your partner earned at least AUD $87,856 in the 12 months before you apply (AUD $102,500 if family is included). The Eligibility Checker shows the figure for you and anyone coming with you.

Checked 7 October 2026.

The standard requirement is IELTS 6.0, but pairing your course with English study moves the bar: 5.5 with at least 10 weeks of ELICOS (an English course for international students), or 5.0 with at least 20 weeks. See Study English for how packaging works.

Checked 7 October 2026.

No. Be careful with anyone who suggests it does. Some courses map to occupations with genuine pathways; others do not. Our course explorer shows this for every course, and the answer is different for every person.

Checked 7 October 2026.

No. Under the Genuine Student requirement (2024 onward), hoping to stay long-term is not penalised. Your answers must be genuine and evidenced. That preparation is part of our service.

Checked 7 October 2026.

Since March 2024, student visa applicants answer short written questions inside the visa application about their situation, their course choice, and how studying in Australia benefits them. The Department weighs your answers together with the evidence you attach: your circumstances at home, your study and work history, and the logic of your course choice.

There is no trick and no secret formula. The strongest answers are true, specific, and consistent with your documents. Reviewing your answers against your evidence before you lodge is individual immigration assistance - we arrange it through Registered Migration Agent access.

Checked 7 October 2026.

In most cases a refusal does not stop you applying again. Your next application must directly answer the reasons in the refusal letter, with better evidence, not the same documents resubmitted. You must also declare the previous refusal honestly; hiding it causes far more damage than the refusal itself.

Whether to reapply, respond, or seek review depends on what your refusal letter actually says, and that is individual advice. This is exactly what our Registered Migration Agent access is for - send us the letter and we will arrange for the right person to read it.

Checked 7 October 2026.

It varies - with how many applications the Department has, the processing order set by Ministerial Direction for applications made outside Australia, how complex your case is, and how complete your application is. Anyone who promises a fixed number of days is guessing. The only reliable answer is the Department of Home Affairs’ own processing-times tool, which is updated regularly (search "global visa processing times").

Two things you control: apply as early as your CoE (Confirmation of Enrolment) allows, and lodge a complete, well-evidenced application the first time. Incomplete applications are the delay you can avoid.

Checked 7 October 2026.

There is no maximum age for the Australian student visa. People study in Australia in their 30s, 40s and beyond, especially for postgraduate and career-change courses. What the Department does assess, at any age, is whether the course fits your past work and education and how it helps your future. It allows for reasonable changes to your career or study path.

If part of your plan is post-study work or migration, age does affect some later visas - most applicants for the Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485) must be 35 or under when they apply (under 50 after a masters by research or a doctorate, or with a Hong Kong or British National (Overseas) passport). So it is worth mapping the whole pathway before you enrol, which is what our eligibility check is for.

Checked 7 October 2026.

A gap is not a refusal reason by itself. There is no official maximum gap for Australian student visas. What matters is whether you can explain the gap honestly and show what you were doing: working, caring for family, running a business, recovering from illness. Gaps that are explained and supported by evidence can be accepted.

A gap only becomes a problem when it is left unexplained, or when the explanation does not match the evidence. If your history is complicated, tell us the real story in the eligibility check - the truthful version is nearly always more workable than people fear.

Checked 7 October 2026.

It depends on your passport and your course. From 2 October 2026, the Migration Regulations list the cases where a spouse or de facto partner and dependent children can apply as the family of a student.

The main cases are these. You hold a passport from Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu or Vanuatu. You hold a passport from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand or Vietnam. You are enrolled in a doctoral (PhD) course. A foreign government pays for your whole course.

Your family must apply at the same time and from the same place as you, in one combined application. Nobody can apply to join you after your visa is granted. A baby born in Australia while you hold your student visa automatically holds the same visa. If your family is already on your student visa, and you held or applied for that visa before 2 October 2026, they may be included again in some cases, such as when you need up to 12 more months to finish your course or move up to a higher-level course.

Plan for two real costs: your family increases the money you must show, and school-aged children generally pay school fees in Australia, with amounts differing by state. Family applications are where good preparation matters most - our eligibility check covers family situations from the first conversation.

Checked 7 October 2026.

Yes, declare them. Answer every question about your family on the application truthfully.

Since 2 October 2026, a partner who stays home cannot join you later on your student visa. As your family member, a partner or child can come on your student visa only by applying with you, at the same time and from the same place, and only in the cases the law allows (see the answer above). A partner can still apply for their own visa, such as their own student visa.

Declaring your partner does not force them to travel, and it does not weaken your application when your relationship is genuine and documented. Leaving family off the form is one of the most common and most painful mistakes we see in applications done without advice.

Checked 7 October 2026.

In many cases, yes. Partners of student visa holders generally receive work rights, and how much they can work depends on the level of course you study. Once a visa is granted, the conditions for each family member are listed in the grant letter and can be checked any time in VEVO, the Department’s free online checker.

Because the rules differ by course level and can change, we confirm the current position for your family during the eligibility check rather than quoting a number here.

Checked 7 October 2026.

Yes. The student visa allows 48 hours per fortnight (every 2 weeks) while your course is in session.

Checked 7 October 2026.

OSHC (Overseas Student Health Cover) is health insurance designed for international students, and holding it is a condition of the student visa. Your cover must run for the length of your stay, starting from when you arrive.

It helps with hospital and medical costs, ambulance, and some medicines. It does not cover extras such as dental or optical unless you add extra cover. Prices differ between insurers for the same product, so compare before you buy - and letting your cover stop puts your visa at risk, so set a renewal reminder.

Checked 7 October 2026.

Take a breath: one failed subject does not automatically end your visa. Providers must monitor your course progress, and for some courses your attendance. They must have a plan to identify and help students at risk. Before a provider reports you to the government for poor progress or attendance, it must give you a written notice and 20 working days to use its complaints and appeals process. Visa trouble usually comes at the end of a long chain of missed warnings, not from one bad semester.

The rule that matters: speak up early. If you are struggling, talk to your provider’s student support before the formal letters start. If you have already received a warning letter or a notice about your visa, that is urgent individual advice - contact us and we will arrange Registered Migration Agent access quickly.

Checked 7 October 2026.

Many graduates apply for the Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485). After a bachelor degree or a masters by coursework, the stay is usually 2 years, and 3 years after a masters by research or a doctorate (some passports, such as India, get longer). After a diploma, associate degree or trade qualification, the stay is 18 months, and you also need an occupation on the skills list and a skills assessment. Most applicants must be 35 or under and apply in Australia within 6 months of finishing. We plan that step before you enrol.

Checked 7 October 2026.

Studyaway is an Australian education agency (Studyaway Pty Ltd, ABN 71 666 183 866). In Australia, immigration assistance may only be provided by a registered migration agent or Australian legal practitioner. Every Studyaway plan includes access to a Registered Migration Agent for the visa side.

Checked 7 October 2026.

You are right to check, because fake agents exist and real students have lost real money to them. The Australian Government’s own advice: check the agency appears on the official agent list of the college or university it claims to represent, ask whether the counsellor holds a QEAC (Qualified Education Agent Counsellor) qualification, and if anyone advises you about the visa itself, check they are a Registered Migration Agent on the free public register at portal.mara.gov.au.

One warning sign above all: the Government states that no agent can guarantee the outcome of your visa application. If an agent promises you a visa, walk away - including from us, if we ever said that. We never will. Always ask for a written agreement listing every service and every fee before you pay anything.

Checked 7 October 2026.

Many education agents are paid a commission by the college or university when you enrol. The Australian Government notes that this cost is usually included in your tuition fees. For a student who moves from one provider to another in Australia after 31 March 2026 before finishing their main course, the new provider cannot pay the agent a commission. Some agents, including Studyaway, also charge a service fee directly, which should always be explained in writing before you commit. Neither model is wrong. What matters is that you can see exactly who is paying whom - ask any agent, including us, to show you this in writing.

Checked 7 October 2026.

You can apply by yourself. College and university applications are free or low-cost, and the visa application is lodged online through your own ImmiAccount. Nothing an agent does is secret.

What a good agent adds is experience: which course genuinely fits your goals, how the Genuine Student questions are assessed, what evidence the Department expects, and what to do when something unusual comes up. If your situation is simple, doing it yourself is a valid choice. If it is not simple (a refusal history, a family application, a career change), that is where guidance earns its fee. The Eligibility Checker shows which of your answers meet the published requirements and which ones to talk through with Studyaway.

Checked 7 October 2026.

Our roots are the Pacific: Fiji, PNG, Samoa, Tonga and Timor-Leste. We also work with students from India, and students already in Australia. Wherever you are, the process starts the same way: the Eligibility Checker.

Checked 7 October 2026.