5 Important Documents
Visa
A visa gives you permission to travel or reside in another country for a stated period of time. It is issued by the country’s consulate in the U.S., in this case the Australian Embassy in Washington, D.C. Australia issues electronic visas. Therefore, you won’t receive a label or sticker to place in your passport. You shouldn’t receive anything from the Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship short of an e-mail either granting the visa or giving further instructions. We recommend printing your visa email and saving a copy on your phone or laptop.
In order to apply, go to the following URL for the Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship website (immi.homeaffairs.gov.au) for information, instructions, and links to the online application.
Remember, you can’t apply for your visa until you receive the Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE) from the Australian institution. The CoE is an official document issued to international students by universities in Australia and is required by the Department of Home Affairs for the purpose of applying for a student visa. You won’t receive the CoE until you’ve submitted your second application materials to the host university and been accepted. Be sure to print out your CoE before departure.
Note that your visa is connected to your passport number. If you lose your passport while abroad and have to replace it, you must contact the Australian Embassy and update your visa with the new passport number.
In general, the steps to obtain a visa include:
- Complete your host institution’s 2nd application
- Receive their offer of admission
- Accept and submit that offer back to the host institution (you’ll need your passport number)
- Receive Confirmation of Enrolment from them
- Apply for your visa online
Online Visa Application Instructions
- Go to: immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/
- On the Immigration and Citizenship page, select Visas. On the next page, select Getting a Visa, then List of All Visas. On the next page, select Studying and Training Visas. Finally, select Student Visa (Subclass 500).
- Remember that you will need to sign and send back to the Australian
- Once you have done this, the host institution will send a Confirmation of Enrollment (CoE) to you. You will need this in order to complete their online visa application.
- On the next page, click on the Apply button.
- Next, create an ImmiAccount.
- Enter your account, read and accept the Terms and Conditions, and Submit.
Hints for Completing the Online Visa Application
- Have your Confirmation of Enrolment code handy (located in the top right corner of your CoE).
- Have the Provider (Australian institution) Number handy (located next to the Provider name on the CoE).
- Ensure that all the info on your CoE is correct; if it isn’t, contact the Australian institution immediately.
- Make sure you enter all dates using this format: Day/Month/Year. (This is very important and is the format students will have to use throughout their stay in Australia.)
- On page 14 of the application, Genuine Temporary Entrant, enter the following:
- “I am a student at Indiana University who has been accepted to study abroad at the [enter the Australian University] for six months. At the end of the program, I’ll return to the U.S. to complete my degree. I am pursuing a Bachelor’s degree.”
- On page 16, Overseas Health Cover, enter the following:
- Does the applicant have Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC)? YES
- Will the Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) organized by the applicant’s education provider? YES
- Name of Health Insurer: Leave blank
- Insurance Policy Number: Leave blank
- Date From: day/month/year
- Date To: day/month/year
Special Note Regarding Confirmation of Enrollment
You will not receive your Confirmation of Enrolment until you have returned your “Offer of Admission” to the Australian university. See steps above.