From first question to your first day in Australia
Six stages, in order. Open each step to see what happens, who does it and what is paid.
Every step, in order
Open a step to see what happens, who does it and what is paid.
Explore
Find what fits and whether you can go.
- I know what I want
Pick a course that aligns with your goals. Each course page has a guide with the fees, the entry rules and the visa path.
- I am not sure yet
Career Match asks how you like to work and matches you with the courses that suit your skills and preferences.
- I know what I want
To be eligible for a Student visa (subclass 500), you must meet the published requirements.
- Check your eligibility
The Eligibility Checker compares your answers with the published requirements for a Student visa (subclass 500). After the questions, it asks for your name and email, then shows your results. Studyaway emails you a copy.
- If you are not eligible yet
Each result shows what to fix and why. The blog post How do you prepare to study in Australia takes each requirement in turn.
Read the blog post: How do you prepare to study in Australia
- Check your eligibility
- Latest from the blog
- Student guidesHow do you prepare to study in Australia: what to fix on each requirementRead
- Student guidesWhich English score do you need for an Australian student visa: IELTS, PTE and what to do if yours is lowerRead
- Student guidesFinishing Year 12 in Fiji: how to choose a course in Australia that leads somewhereRead
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We send you everything you need to know as it happens - courses, rule changes, and real costs. Unsubscribe any time.
Get ready
Gather the evidence, then apply when you are ready.
Start gathering what the visa and the enrolment ask for, and plan where you will live.
- Your documents
Identity, study history, English and health: each item and who issues it.
- Genuine funds
How much the Department of Home Affairs requires for your course, and the evidence it accepts.
- Accommodation
Where to live when you first arrive: what rent costs in each city, homestay and how to rent safely.
- Your documents
When you are ready, with the money and the documents in place, the Apply now form opens your file. Its confirmation email has the booking link for your Expert consultation.
The Expert consultation is for students who have applied: 20 minutes with the Studyaway team on your course, your documents, your money and what comes next. It is booked from the Apply now confirmation email, and it is not the general 15-minute call.
I am going ahead: next step Not ready yet? Nothing is paid before you decide to go ahead.
Enrolment and payment
Your file opens, the provider enrols you, one full payment.
- Payment of $199
Pay $199 to open your file. It is credited to any Studyaway service.
Paid to Studyaway.
- Send your documents
Studyaway sends a checklist written for your situation and checks every document you send back.
- Payment of $199
Studyaway applies to the provider for the course you chose, including any entry test or screening the provider sets.
- Letter of offer
The provider sends a letter of offer and its written agreement to accept and sign. Studyaway sends its written Service Agreement, with the full Refund Policy, before you pay anything more.
- Genuine Student and study pathway statement
Your statement sets out why this course, this provider and this plan, in your own words. It supports the enrolment and the visa application.
- Letter of offer
One payment to Studyaway covers every upfront cost: the rest of the Studyaway fee, the tuition, the Visa Application Charge and OSHC. One transfer from overseas saves the fees of several. Studyaway then pays the provider, the Department and the insurer.
One payment to Studyaway.
- Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE)
The provider issues your CoE once the payment reaches it. The visa application needs it.
- OSHC secured
Studyaway buys your Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) for the length of your visa.
- Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE)
Visa application process
The application, your health and identity checks, the decision.
In Australia, visa advice may only be given by a registered migration agent or an Australian legal practitioner.
- Visa application prepared
A registered migration agent or lawyer advises on your Student visa (subclass 500) application and prepares it with the documents Studyaway has collected.
- Visa application lodged
The application is lodged with the Department of Home Affairs and you receive the confirmation. Nothing is needed from you until the referral letters arrive.
- Visa application prepared
If the Department asks for them, its referral letters say what to book. Book both as soon as they arrive: the decision waits on them.
- Complete your medical
The health examinations are done by a panel physician: a doctor or clinic the Department has approved in your home country. Only a panel physician can do them.
Paid to the panel clinic.
- Complete your biometrics
Your photo and fingerprints are taken at an Australian Biometrics Collection Centre in your home country, run for the Department by VFS Global.
A service fee, paid to VFS Global.
- Complete your medical
- Visa approved
The grant letter lists your visa conditions. Read them, then prepare to depart.
- Visa refused
The refusal letter gives the reasons. The refusal steps below show what happens next.
- Visa approved
Pre-departure and arrival
Fly, land and settle in.
- Purchase your ticket
Book your flight once the visa is granted, to land before orientation.
Paid to the airline.
- Pack everything you need
Carry your passport, visa grant, CoE, OSHC details and letter of offer in your hand luggage, with clothes for the season.
- Pick-up and accommodation
Have your airport pick-up and your accommodation sorted before you fly.
- Purchase your ticket
- Check in to your accommodation
Settle in and get to know the way to your campus.
- Administration
Apply for a tax file number with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), open a bank account, get an Australian SIM and send Studyaway your new address and number.
- Attend orientation
Attend the provider’s orientation on the date in your letter of offer.
- Check in to your accommodation
Study and work
Your course, your work, your goal.
Study, and work within the conditions of your visa. Studyaway keeps working with you in Australia until you reach the goal you set in step 1.
What happens after a refusal
Two steps first, then your choice: try again, or stop and ask for a refund.
- 1Check the decision record
The refusal letter and the decision record give the Department’s reasons. A registered migration agent or lawyer reads them with you and explains the options.
- 2Counselling
Studyaway goes through the course, the provider and your evidence with you, against the reasons in the decision record.
Your choice
- Adjust accordingly
Fix what the decision record found: the evidence, the course or the plan.
- Re-apply
Studyaway charges no agency fee again. The Department’s Visa Application Charge is paid again with the new application.
- Close your file
Tell Studyaway you are not going ahead, and your file is closed.
- Ask for a refund
What is refunded is set out, fee by fee, in the Refund Policy that comes with your written Service Agreement. Fill in the refund form ↗