Subclass 500 Student Visa Regular SSVF Risk Factsheet

The Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) assigns an ‘Immigration Risk” (level of perceived risk) to each application for a Student visa. The Immigration Risk is decided by the chosen Australian education provider and student’s passport nationality.

The application’s Immigration Risk determines the nature and extent of the requirements that the student must satisfy, including the type of funds required and English language ability.

IMMIGRATION RISK REQUIREMENTS

English Language

As the visa applicant, you must generally:

have obtained an Overall Band Score of at least 5.5 in a recent IELTS test (or an equivalent score in another acceptable English test) OR
undertake an ELICOS (English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students) for a maximum of 10 weeks in Australia AND have obtained an Overall Band Score of at least 5 in a recent IELTS test (or an equivalent score in another acceptable English test) OR
undertake an ELICOS (English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students) for a maximum of 20 weeks in Australia AND have obtained an Overall Band Score of at least 4.5 in a recent IELTS test (or an equivalent score in another acceptable English test) OR
have undertaken at least 5 years of schooling in English in Australia, New Zealand, the U.S.A., the U.K., the Republic of Ireland, Canada or South Africa, and have the level of English language proficiency required by your education provider

Education

As the visa applicant, you must:

have completed secondary schooling to the Year 11 level (or its equivalent)

An acceptable individual MUST be able to show that his/her regular income was sufficient to build up the level of funds that he/she claims to hold, and MUST be one of the following persons:

you (being the visa applicant)
your:
1. spouse or de facto partner
2. parent
3. grandparent
4. brother or sister
5. uncle or aunt who is an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen, and who usually resides in Australia (this includes uncles and aunts related by marriage to the applicant’s blood aunts and uncles)

The following individuals are NOT considered to be acceptable for the above purposes:

relatives-in-law e.g. the parent or sibling of your partner, or the partner of the your sibling
an aunt or uncle by marriage whose relationship with your blood uncle or aunt has ceased through separation or divorce

Level of Funds Required

All student visa applicants must have sufficient funds available for the duration of their stay in Australia, however students associated with higher immigration risk, based on their country and education provider immigration risk outcomes, will generally have to provide specified documentary evidence of financial capacity with their visa application.

The DIBP has set out the amounts in Australian dollars that you must have access to in order to meet the expenses you are likely to incur whilst studying in Australia, as shown in the table below.

You must provide evidence that you have sufficient funds to cover tuition fees and living costs for the first 12 months of your intended stay in Australia, as well as the necessary travel funds OR

Provide evidence of spouse’s or parents annual income of at least AUD $60,000 ($70,000 if accompanied by family members).

You must also declare that you have access to sufficient funds to cover these expenses for the remainder of your time in Australia.

Expense Type	Person(s) Covered	Amount Required (AUD)*
Travel	Main Applicant and Dependent Applicants	Return airfare to Australia for EACH applicant (Approx. AUD 1500 for India)
Tuition Fees	Main Applicant Dependent Child Aged 5-18 Years Old	Course Fees (First Year) ____________________ $8,000 per year
Living Costs	Main Applicant Spouse/Partner Dependent Child	$19,830 per year $6,940 per year $2,970 per year

*These amounts are the minimum required for this visa, and do not necessarily represent the actual cost of living in Australia.

Acceptable Source of Funds

You must provide evidence that you are able to access the level of funds shown above, and that the funds come from an acceptable source/individual, namely:

a money deposit that an acceptable individual has held for at least 3 months immediately before your application is lodged
your spouse’s or parent’s personal income of at least AUD60,000 (or AUD70,000 if you are accompanied by family members) in an official government documentation e.g. tax assessment
financial support from your education provider; an Australian or foreign government; a multilateral agency; a NPO; or, in some specific instances, a corporation (please contact us if you require further information about this type of funding)
a loan from a financial institution that is made to, and held in the name of, an acceptable individual
a loan from the government of your home country

NOTE: Bank statements and other financial documents provided as evidence of an acceptable individual’s funds MUST be EITHER:

in the name of that individual alone e.g. your father’s account OR
in the joint names of two or more acceptable individuals e.g. the joint account of your father AND mother

The financial documents may NOT be in the name of an acceptable individual AND a non-acceptable individual e.g. the joint account of your father and his business partner.

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Sydney Office Address:

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The Dymocks Building
NSW 2000 Australia

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PO Box Q833 Queen Victoria
Building Sydney Australia 1230

Email:

info@visainfo.com.au