Australia Student Visa 2026: Fees, Documents, and Process for Indian Students

The fee for an Australia student visa increased from AUD 2,000 to AUD 2,500 on 1 July 2026, a 25% hike that now makes subclass 500 one of the most expensive student visa charges among major study destinations. At the exchange rate used in this article (Rs. 66/AUD), that works out to roughly Rs. 1.65 lakh for the primary applicant.

A few things worth knowing about the australia student visa fee before you pay it:

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• The fee is non-refundable, even if your application is refused.
• Applicants holding ASEAN-member passports pay a lower AUD 2,050.
• If you lodged before 1 July 2026, the older AUD 2,000 fee still applies to that application.
• The fee does not include Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC), English test fees, or medical examination charges, so budget for those separately.

Add the Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485) fee of AUD 5,750 to your post-study planning if you intend to work in Australia after your course, since that charge also rose sharply in the same round of increases.

To meet australia student visa eligibility for the subclass 500, you generally need to:

• Hold a valid Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE) from a CRICOS-registered Australian education provider.
• Satisfy the Genuine Student (GS) requirement (more on this below).
• Meet the English language threshold, currently a minimum IELTS score of 6.0 overall (or an equivalent PTE/TOEFL score) for most subclass 500 applications. See the full IELTS score breakdown by course level.
• Show evidence of Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) for your full intended stay.
• Meet health and character requirements, including any required medical examinations and police clearance certificates.
• Show financial capacity to cover tuition, living costs, and travel (detailed in the next section).

There is no fixed upper age limit for the student visa itself, but your Genuine Student responses need to credibly link your course to your study and career history, which becomes harder to argue the larger the age gap.

If you have been researching this topic using older articles, you will see constant references to the "Genuine Temporary Entrant" or GTE statement. That requirement no longer exists. From 23 March 2024, the Australian Department of Home Affairs replaced GTE with the Genuine Student (GS) requirement, and GS rules continue to apply through the 2026 intakes.

The practical difference: GTE asked you to prove you intended to return home after your studies. GS instead asks you to answer a structured set of questions that evaluate whether your chosen course genuinely fits your academic background and career plan, your knowledge of the course and provider, your potential circumstances in Australia, and the value the course adds to your future. Read the full GS requirement breakdown, including sample question categories.

Your Statement of Purpose (SOP) is where you address GS directly, so treat it as a visa document, not just an admissions formality. See how to structure an SOP that answers the GS questions.

Here is the core australia student visa documents required checklist for a subclass 500 application:

Counselor insight: Students from India most often get held up on financial documents, not academics. A degree certificate rarely triggers a request for more information; an unexplained bank deposit almost always does.

For 2026, single applicants must show evidence of at least AUD 29,710 per year for living expenses, about Rs. 19.6 lakh at this article's exchange rate, in addition to your full first-year tuition fee as shown on your CoE and your return airfare (roughly AUD 2,000, or about Rs. 1.32 lakh).

Accepted proof of funds includes:

• Bank statements (usually the last 3 to 6 months), held and genuinely available, not just deposited days before lodging
• Education loan sanction letters from an approved bank
• Fixed deposit certificates at least 3 months old
• Official scholarship or sponsor letters, backed by the sponsor's own financial documents

A note on living costs: your actual budget may run higher than the AUD 29,710 government threshold, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne. See a full city-by-city breakdown of living costs in Australia.

Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) is mandatory for the entire length of your student visa, and you need to arrange it before you lodge your application since the policy details go into the visa form. For a single student, OSHC typically costs AUD 500 to 750 per year (about Rs. 33,000 to Rs. 49,500), depending on the provider and the length of cover you purchase. Government-approved providers include Bupa, Medibank, Allianz Care Australia, AHM, and NIB; prices and inclusions vary enough between them that it is worth comparing before you buy a multi-year policy.

1. Accept your university offer and pay any required deposit to receive your Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE).
2. Take your English test and arrange your Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC).
3. Prepare your financial documents and your Genuine Student responses or SOP.
4. Create an ImmiAccount and complete the online application (Form 157A).
5. Upload all documents, including your CoE, financial proof, OSHC policy, and academic records.
6. Pay the AUD 2,500 visa application fee.
7. Complete biometrics and any requested medical examination.
8. Track your application through ImmiAccount until you receive your visa grant notice.

One rule to check carefully: since 1 July 2024, holders of a Visitor visa (subclass 600) or a Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485) can no longer apply for a student visa while they are inside Australia. If this rule applies to you, you will need to lodge your application from offshore.

According to Department of Home Affairs data for July 2026, the median australia student visa processing time for Indian applicants in the Higher Education sector is 23 days, with 90% of applications decided within a broader window that can stretch to several weeks depending on individual circumstances. Processing time varies by:

• Education sector (Higher Education, VET, ELICOS, and postgraduate research each move at different speeds)
• Whether your application and documents are complete on first submission
• Whether a medical examination or additional document request is needed (this alone can add 2 to 3 weeks)
• Your individual case history and nationality-level processing patterns

The single biggest lever you control is submitting a complete, consistent application the first time. Lodging online through ImmiAccount rather than on paper also tends to move faster.

While your course is in session, you can work up to 48 hours per fortnight (24 hours per week). There is generally no cap on work hours during official course breaks. Working beyond this limit while classes are running is a visa condition breach and can affect future immigration applications, so track your hours carefully rather than estimating them.

The most common refusal triggers for Indian applicants are not complicated paperwork gaps; they are credibility gaps. A sudden large deposit from a property sale or an informal family loan, without a paper trail, is the single most frequent flag reviewers raise. GS responses that read like a generic template rather than a specific answer about your course and career plans are the second most common issue. Start building clean financial documentation and a genuinely specific SOP at least six months before you plan to apply, not six weeks.

• Budget for the full cost, not just the fee: AUD 2,500 for the visa plus OSHC, English test fees, and medical costs on top.
• Treat your SOP as a Genuine Student document, not an admissions formality, since GS responses are now the main credibility check.
• Start your financial documentation at least six months ahead so that every deposit has a clean, explainable paper trail by the time you apply.

Planning your Australia student visa application? Talk to a LeapScholar counselor to have your documents, financials, and genuine student statement reviewed before you lodge.