Australian Visa Application Process – How to Apply, Processing time & More

August 10, 2022    Immigrationlawyers
Australian Visa Application Process – How to Apply, Processing time & More

Australia is a country that attracts many people all around the world; thousands of people visit this country every year. Australia has a great reputation around the world not only due to tourist attractions but also for education. The “Land Down Under” is also famous for its unique English accent.

Many international students choose to visit Australia due to its high-quality education, high standard of living, and reputation. There are many universities that you can find in Australia that are famous around the globe, but you need to know the Australian visa process if you want to be in Australia. In this guide, you will know about the entire Australian visa application process.

Essential Things Required for an Australian Visa

These are the important things that you will need to acquire an Australian visa:

  • Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE) 

If you wish to receive the CoE, you must apply to a university before proceeding with the Australian visa application. After you apply for admission to the university, after being selected, you will receive a CoE that will state that you can join the specific university for the applied course.

  • Documents required 

The documents that you will need are as follows:

  1. CoE (Confirmation of Enrolment)
  2. Valid passport or travel documents
  3. Passport-sized color photographs
  4. OSHC Health insurance
  5. Evidence of temporary stay
  6. Proof of fee payment
  7. Birth Certificate
  8. Proof of academic background
  9. Scores obtained on the English language proficiency test
  10. Proof of any backlogs in your educational history
  11. Financial evidence shows you can bear your living expenses in Australia.

All your documents must be scanned and attached to the Australian visa application.

Australian Visa Application Process

If you want to or are planning to study in Australia, you need to know how to apply for an Australian visa. The visa that you must apply for is a subclass 500 visa named Student visa. Under this visa, you can live, work and study in Australia for around five years, which is in line with the applied course. Under a student visa, you will be allowed to work for 30 hours per fortnight during the course term and full-time when there is a vacation.

Students who apply for postgraduate degrees and those in important industries such as hospitality and tourism will have flexible timing. The earliest time you can apply for an Australian visa application is around 124 days before the commencement of the course.

On the first page of the application, you will need to fill in the CoE code and your nationality. After that, you need to fill in other important details; you may even need to go for a health checkup or attend an interview round, depending on what you studied and your place of living.

Fees/TRN Number

After completing the Australian visa application form, you will need to pay the fees, which are around 620 AUD for the base application charge and 460 AUD or 150 AUD more for those above and under 18. After you complete the application procedure for the visa and pay the money, you will receive a receipt that has the TRN or Transaction Reference Number. You need to save this number to check your application’s status.

How Long Does it Take?

You will be notified around four to eight weeks from the date of the application process, but sometimes, it also depends on your nationality and other associated factors. It might take longer if you fail to submit all the important documents. All the documents that you sent will be verified along with your personal background to search for a criminal conviction.

Off to Australia

After you receive the Australian visa, you can enter the country around 90 days before the start of your course and the date given in the CoE. If you are not living in accommodations provided by the university, you must inform the address of the Australian university seven days before you visit the country.

How Do You Apply for an Australian Visa?

If you want to visit or migrate to Australia, you will need to know how to apply for a student or tourist visa. The process will not be complex for you if you do the proper research. Before you apply for the visa, you need to know under what category you fall; this way, you can apply for the correct visa and face no trouble.

Finding Your Visa Type

If you want to know under which category you fall, you need to use certain tools like Find Visa online. As per your data, such websites can generate the appropriate visa category you need to apply for. You can know what type of Australian visa can best suit your situation. Other than that, you can also visit Australia’s Department of Immigration and Border Protection.

If you need further help, you can contact a visa agent or visit your city’s visa office at the Australian High Commission. You must familiarise yourself with the multiple categories available for the visa application to find the one that suits you.

Types of Visas in Australia

The different types of visas in Australia are as follows:

  • Work visa
  1. Working holidaymaker
  2. Temporary residence with work rights
  • Temporary entry visas 
  1. Foreign government agency
  2. Special program
  3. Exchange
  4. Educational
  5. Working holiday
  6. Entertainment
  7. Sport
  8. Visiting Academic
  9. Religious worker
  10. Public lecturer
  11. Media/Film staff
  12. Domestic worker
  1. Skilled migrants
  2. Business migrants
  3. Migration program
  4. Humanitarian program
  5. Medical treatment Visa Perth
  6. Citizenship by Descent
  7. Transit
  8. Resident return

 

After you have identified the visa you need to apply for, you must read all the details and information available for the category. This will make it easier to understand the documents, fees, photo specifications, and charge that is needed for the visa.

Are You Required to Submit the Original Documents?

Before you know how to apply for a working visa, you need to know that you are not required to submit your original documents for an Australian visa. If you are going to apply online, then you need to scan your documents and attach them with the application as electronic files. But if you are making a visa application on paper, you need to ensure that only certified copies are submitted.

This indicates that if you make a copy of your document, then you send it to someone who can certify it for you. They also need to write, “This is a certified copy of the original as seen by me”. Everyone cannot certify your visa documents; it needs to be a non-Australian or an Australian who works as a certified professional such as clerks, judges, doctors, and much more.

When Should You Apply for an Australian Visa?

The time to apply for an Australian visa depends on what type of visa will you apply for:

  • Before you want to know how to apply for a tourist visa, you need to learn that if you apply for this visa, you must ensure that you apply a month before you plan to travel. You can also think of taking more time; though most of the applications are resolved in some weeks, this visa can take more than four months.
  • If you are going to apply for an ETA or an eVisitor, you must apply a week before your trip to ensure there are no problems.
  • If you are looking to apply for a long-term visa like a work visa, you will be required to begin the process early as it can take months to a year to complete.

Who is Responsible for Issuing Australian Visas?

The authority that evaluates, issues, and decides on all the visa applications is the Australian Department of Home Affairs.

How Do You Apply for an Australian Visa?

If you want to apply for an Australian visa, you must follow some specific procedures. The first thing that you need to do is to acquire a visa application form, and after that, you need to fill up the form and pay the charges and service fees. After this, you can submit the visa application form and the necessary documents required for the Australian visa process.

After completing the above steps, you need to wait for your Australian visa to be processed. You can also keep track of your visa application process online, and after it is processed, you will be informed if your Australian visa is approved or rejected.

The Australian Visa Application Payment

After you have filled up your visa application form, you will need to make the payment for the application fees. You can visit the immigration center or pay the fees online; if you want to apply from Australia, you need to pay through your credit cards.

But you can also use bank cheques or money orders. If you pay from outside of Australia, you have to check with the application center on the accepted payment methods and the accepted currencies.

Some of the charges that might apply are:

  • Non-internet application charge
  • Base application charge
  • Additional applicant charge for 18 years or above
  • Additional applicant charge for 18 years
  • Subsequent temporary application charge.

Some of the modes of payment that are accepted for the Australian visa application fees are:

  • Money order- It is payable to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection.
  • Bank cheque- It is payable to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection
  • Credit card- There may be a surcharge that can apply to credit card payments. If you are applying inside of Australia, then the card payment method is preferred.

Some of the credit cards that are accepted are as follows:

  • Visa
  • MasterCard
  • JCB
  • American Express
  • Diners Club.

Where Should You Apply for a Visa to Australia?

You can apply for an Australian visa using any of the methods listed below:

  • Australian visa application centers- You must visit the nearest center and lodge a visa application.
  • Online- If you are searching for ‘how to apply for a parent visa?’, you need to know that you can apply for the visa online from a website and submit it.
  • Postal service- You can also prefer to send your application to the application center by post.

Tracking the Application Status of an Australian Visa

You will be able to track the status of your Australian visa application online.

  • For the applications that are made before 1st July 2013, you can opt to enter your application reference number, the purpose of travel, and the passport number mentioned on the receipt. After that, you will receive the application status.
  • For the applications made after 1st July 2013, you might need to enter the VLN number and the date of birth mentioned on the receipt.
  • You can also check for application status alerts made from email and SMS to the contacts that you gave in the application form.

Can You Appeal for a Visa Refusal?

If for some reason, your Australian visa is rejected, you can make an appeal to review the rejection decision to the AAT or Australian Administrative Appeals Tribunal. You need to ensure that you appeal as early as you can; you need to do it as soon as you receive the rejection letter.

This is because an appeal may be considered if you wait too long; you will have around seven to 28 days to make an appeal. You will know through your visa rejection letter if you are eligible for an appeal and, if yes, how and when you can do it.

How Long does it take to Process a Visa Application

After you are aware of how to apply for a refugee visa Perth, you may want to know about the processing times of those visas. The processing time for an Australian visa will depend on what type of visa it is. Most tourist and other visa applications are processed in under a few weeks and may take a maximum of four months.

But if you provide all the documents and apply for the correct visa, it may take only a few days to process the visa application. Long-term visa applications might take more time, from several months to a year, depending on the visa type.

Contact Immigration Lawyers Perth

If you want to reside in Australia either as a student or a tourist, you will require an Australian visa and need to know how to apply for an Australian visa. Sometimes, the visa application process can be complex; in such cases, the top immigration lawyers from Immigration Lawyers Perth can help you.

They are an expert in this field and have tons of experience in helping you fill out application forms and ensure that your visa is accepted.

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