Frequently asked questions

A Subclass 500 turns on two evaluative criteria: that the applicant is a genuine student [cl 500.212], and that the applicant has genuine access to sufficient funds [cl 500.214]. These are judgment criteria.

Genuine Student

The applicant must be "a genuine applicant for entry and stay as a student". The decision maker assesses the applicant's circumstances and immigration history; for a minor, the intentions of a parent, guardian or spouse; the intention to comply with visa conditions, judged against any past compliance record and the applicant's stated intention; and any other relevant matter [cl 500.212]. This Genuine Student (GS) test replaced the former Genuine Temporary Entrant (GTE) criterion, dropping the old temporariness framing: the question is whether the person is a genuine student, so an applicant who hopes to move onto a skilled or other pathway can still satisfy it where the study purpose is genuine.

Genuine access to funds

The applicant must have genuine access to funds sufficient to meet the costs and expenses of the applicant, and of each family-unit member who will be in Australia, throughout the period they hold the visa [cl 500.214]. Where the Minister requires it, the applicant gives evidence of financial capacity meeting the requirements in a legislative instrument [cl 500.214(3)]. The test is genuine access (funds the applicant can actually draw on) across the whole intended stay.

A grant to a primary student carries a fixed set of mandatory conditions [cl 500.611]. Two of them govern day-to-day compliance: the work condition 8105 and the enrolment condition 8202.

Work: condition 8105

The holder must not work before the course commences, unless the visa they held when they applied (a substantive or bridging visa) already permitted work [sch 8 cl 8105]. Once the course is in session, the holder must not work more than 48 hours a fortnight; when the course is not in session, the cap lifts [sch 8 cl 8105(2A)]. Two carve-outs sit in the condition itself: work specified as a requirement of the course when it was registered does not count against the cap, and once the course has commenced there is no cap at all for a student whose visa was granted for a masters degree by research or a doctoral degree [sch 8 cl 8105(2)].

Study: condition 8202

Condition 8202 uses different enrolment rules for different cohorts. A Foreign Affairs student, Defence student or secondary exchange student must remain enrolled in a full-time course of study or training [sch 8 cl 8202(1)]. Other holders must remain enrolled in a full-time registered course and, subject to the listed course exceptions, maintain study leading to a qualification at the same AQF level as, or a higher level than, the course for which the visa was granted [sch 8 cl 8202(2)]. A change from an AQF level 10 doctoral degree to an AQF level 9 masters degree is expressly permitted [sch 8 cl 8202(3)]. The holder must also maintain satisfactory attendance and course progress [sch 8 cl 8202(4)].

The remaining mandatory primary conditions apply in every case: 8501 (health insurance), 8516 (continue to meet the student criteria), 8517 (schooling for a school-age dependant), 8532 (welfare of a minor), 8533 (notifying the provider of the holder's address), and 8208 (critical-technology study control) [cl 500.611]. On top of these, cohort-specific mandatory conditions attach in defined cases - for example 8203 or 8204 for a citizen of Iran, and 8535 for a Foreign Affairs or Defence student [cl 500.611(1)].

A student's spouse or de facto partner, and an unmarried dependent child under 18 of the student or of that spouse or de facto partner, can be included as a secondary applicant [reg 1.12(6)]. They meet their own genuineness test and carry conditions that, on work and study, differ from the primary student's.

Who qualifies

The applicant must be a member of the family unit of a primary student who holds a student visa, through one of two doors: they became a family member before the grant of the student visa and were included or declared in the primary person's application, or they became a family member only after the grant - such as a new spouse or a newborn child [cl 500.311]. A person who was already a family member before the grant but was not declared in the student's application fits neither door. They must themselves be a genuine applicant for entry and stay as a family member, assessed on their circumstances, immigration history, and intention to comply with conditions [cl 500.312]. Genuine access to funds and health insurance are required, and for a school-age dependant staying more than three months, evidence of schooling arrangements [cl 500.313] [cl 500.314] [cl 500.315].

Which conditions attach

Four apply to every secondary holder whatever their age: 8104 (work), 8208 (critical-technology study), 8501 (health insurance) and 8516 (continue to meet the criteria) [cl 500.612], and cohort-specific mandatory conditions exist here too (for example 8204 for a citizen of Iran) [cl 500.612(1)]. Two more turn on age: a secondary who has turned 18 carries 8201, which caps their own study at three months (so a partner who wants a full course of their own needs their own student visa), while an under-18 secondary carries 8518, requiring their schooling to be maintained [cl 500.612] [sch 8 cl 8201].

Work: condition 8104

The family member's work condition is 8104, not the primary's 8105 [cl 500.612], and it runs differently in three ways. First, the family member generally cannot work until the primary student has commenced their course, unless either the family member or the primary already held a work-permitted visa when they applied [sch 8 cl 8104]. Second, the ordinary cap is 48 hours a fortnight whenever the holder is in Australia, whether the course is in session or not, so there is no vacation uplift of the kind the primary enjoys under 8105 [sch 8 cl 8104(3A)]. The one exception is the pre-commencement window: where either the family member or the primary held a work-permitted visa at application, the family member may work above the cap before the primary's course commences [sch 8 cl 8104(2C)]. Third, the cap depends on the primary's study level: if the primary's course is for a masters or doctoral degree, the family member may work unlimited hours; at any lower level (a graduate diploma, graduate certificate, bachelor or below), the family member stays capped [sch 8 cl 8104].

The financial capacity criterion is ordinarily met by either of two routes, with the detail set by the current version of LIN 19/198 rather than the clause itself [cl 500.214(4)]. A few defined cohorts satisfy it a different way, noted below.

The two ordinary routes

The funds route is genuine access to the required amount, held as a money deposit with a financial institution, a loan from a financial institution, a government loan, or a scholarship or financial support [LIN 19/198]. The annual-income route is evidence that the applicant's parent, spouse or de facto partner had at least the instrument-specified personal annual income in the twelve months immediately before the application, with the applicable tier determined by whether there is a secondary applicant; the evidence must take the prescribed form of official Government documentation of personal income issued in the twelve months immediately before the application is made [LIN 19/198 s 6(3)]. Either way, clause 500.214 requires the funds to be genuinely available to the applicant across the intended stay, not merely displayed at lodgement [cl 500.214]. Outside these two routes, a few defined cohorts satisfy the criterion under the same instrument by a specified document instead: a secondary exchange student by a completed AASES form, a Foreign Affairs student by a letter of support from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and a Defence student by a letter of support from the Department of Defence [LIN 19/198].

How the funds-route amount is calculated

The amount is built from travel costs, course fees net of amounts already paid, the instrument-specified living-cost component for the primary applicant and each accompanying family member, and schooling costs for each school-age child [LIN 19/198]. Course fees and living costs are ordinarily calculated for twelve months, or for the shorter remaining period where the relevant study or stay is under twelve months. The income thresholds and each cost component must be checked in the version of LIN 19/198 current on the advice, lodgement or publication date; no remembered amount should be used.

The applicant must give evidence of adequate health insurance covering the whole period of their intended stay [cl 500.215]. The same requirement applies to accompanying family members [cl 500.314], and it continues after grant: condition 8501 is mandatory on every student visa and requires the cover to be maintained throughout, so a lapse breaches a visa condition and exposes the holder to cancellation [cl 500.611] [sch 8 cl 8501] [s 116(1)(b)].

English proficiency is a criterion set by clause 500.213. LIN 25/090 applies to Subclass 500 applications made on or after 7 August 2025; its saved pre-commencement test cohort operates only within that application cohort [LIN 25/090 ss 8–9]. Work through the current applicable instrument in two steps: is the client exempt, and if not, what score is required.

Step 1: Exemptions

LIN 25/090 lists classes that need not give any English evidence, and an exempt applicant cannot be required to test [cl 500.213(2)]. The main ones are: a passport holder of the UK, USA, Canada, New Zealand or the Republic of Ireland; a student whose only course is a registered school course, a registered postgraduate research course, or an ELICOS; a Foreign Affairs, Defence or secondary exchange student; and a student with a recent qualifying record of study in English. So school-sector and research students are typically exempt, while higher-education and VET students usually are not.

Step 2: The score

For the two tests below the requirement is a single overall test score rather than separate listening, reading, speaking and writing minimums. Which scores apply turns on when the test was taken: a test taken on or after 7 August 2025 is scored against Schedule 1, while a test taken before that date is assessed under the instrument's transitional provision against the Schedule 3 scores. Either way the test must have been taken within two years, measured back from the application date where the result accompanies the application, or from the decision date where it is supplied later [LIN 25/090]. The two tests in common use, under LIN 25/090:

| Test (overall score) | Direct entry | + at least 10 weeks ELICOS | + at least 20 weeks ELICOS | |---|---|---|---| | IELTS Academic | 6.0 | 5.5 | 5.0 | | PTE Academic | 47 | 39 | 31 |

The lower tiers apply where the principal course is packaged with ELICOS ahead of it, or, at the middle tier, a standard or extended foundation program or an eligible pathway program. Other accepted tests (TOEFL iBT, Cambridge C1 Advanced, OET and others) carry their own equivalent scores in the instrument. These figures are fixed by LIN 25/090 and change with it, so the current instrument governs.

A student who is or will be under 18 while in Australia carries an added layer of age, welfare and schooling rules on top of the ordinary criteria.

Age limits for school students

A school student must be at least 6 at the time of application, and below the age fixed for commencing each of years 9 to 12 [cl 500.216]; secondary exchange students sit outside these limits.

Welfare arrangements for a minor

If the applicant will be under 18 at any time in Australia, the application must be accompanied by evidence of the intended arrangements for their accommodation, support and general welfare [item 1222]. For an ordinary student, condition 8532 requires the minor after grant to live with a parent, a legal custodian, or a nominated relative who is at least 21 and of good character, or under welfare arrangements approved by the education provider (a CAAW), in which case the student must not enter Australia before the date the provider nominates for those arrangements to begin [sch 8 cl 8532].

A guardian's own visa

A parent or relative coming to stay with the minor as their guardian applies for a separate Subclass 590 (Student Guardian) visa; it is not part of the student's own application.

Schooling must continue

A school-age dependant of a primary student must have adequate schooling maintained under condition 8517, and an under-18 secondary applicant must maintain their own schooling under condition 8518 [sch 8 cl 8517] [sch 8 cl 8518].

The genuine student criterion sits in clause 500.212, and the way it is weighed is governed by a Ministerial Direction made under section 499: currently Direction No. 106 [cl 500.212] [s 499]. Officers are bound by the Direction but must exercise judgment across its factors rather than treat them as a checklist.

What the clause weighs

Clause 500.212 requires regard to the applicant's circumstances and immigration history, and (for a minor) a parent, guardian or spouse's intentions; to the applicant's intention to comply with conditions, judged against any past compliance and their stated intention; and to any other relevant matter [cl 500.212]. Under the circumstances limb, the Direction points to three things: the applicant's circumstances at home, their potential circumstances in Australia, and the value of the course to the applicant's future.

The shift from GTE

Until 23 March 2024 the criterion asked whether the applicant intended to stay only temporarily: the Genuine Temporary Entrant test. That temporariness element has been removed: a student visa is accepted as a legitimate pathway that can lead to permanent residence, so an onward migration intention is no longer adverse in itself, and the focus is the genuineness of the study purpose [cl 500.212].

Closer scrutiny

Direction 106 lists circumstances that may warrant closer scrutiny and a request for further information or evidence: adverse fraud or compliance intelligence held by the Department; a concerning immigration history of the applicant or a relative; a proposed course unrelated to previous study or work; inconsistencies in the application; the applicant currently holding a Subclass 485, 600, 601 or 651 visa; and the applicant holding, or having previously held, a student visa. The separate general power to seek further information from an applicant sits in the Act [s 56]. These are triggers for closer examination, not automatic refusals.