Australia welcomes about 300,000 students every year. In the last financial year covering the period from 1 July 2016 until the 30 June 2017, there were 374,294 lodged student visa applications and 343,035 of these applications were granted. Out of the 374,294 lodged student visas during this period, 3,680 were from Filipino passport holders who were still outside Australia at the time of visa application. These figures were gathered from the Department of Home Affairs’ Student and Temporary Graduate Bi-Annual Visa Programme Report issued on 30 June 2017.
Student visa grants are issued along with conditions. It is a must that these are satisfied to avoid the risk of visa cancellation.
8105 Work Limitation
• You can only work when your course starts.
• You can only work for 40 hours a fortnight (14 days commencing on a Monday) when your course is in session. However, during breaks you can work unlimited hours.
• You can work for more than 40 hours a week if any of the following applies:
º You have started your course and you have reached the end of the term (during term breaks, meaning your course is not in session).
º You are working on a job that is part of your course requirements (for example, clinical placements or internships).
º Your student visa was granted for a master’s degree by research or a doctoral degree.
8202 Meet Course Requirements
- You must be enrolled in a full-time CRICOS registered course.
- You must maintain enrolment in a CRICOS registered course at the same AQF level or a higher level as the course you enrolled in when your student visa was granted. There is an exemption to this: doctorate students (AQF level 10) can move to a master’s degree (AQF level 9).
- You should achieve satisfactory academic progress and attendance in your course of study.
The Australian Qualification Framework (AQF) lays down the structure for educational qualifications levels in Australia as shown below.
AQF Level | Qualifications
Level 1 – Certificate I
Level 2 – Certificate II
Level 3 – Certificate III
Level 4 – Certificate IV
Level 5 – Diploma
Level 6 – Advanced Diploma, Associate Degree
Level 7 – Bachelor’s Degree
Level 8 – Bachelor Honour’s Degree, Graduate Certificate, Graduate Diploma
Level 9 – Master’s Degree
Level 10Â -Doctoral Degree
Other mandatory student visa conditions
• 8501 – Maintain Health Insurance
You should have an Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) while completing your studies and while you are on your student visa.
• 8516 – Must Maintain Eligibility
You should continue to satisfy the criteria you satisfied when you applied for your student visa.
• 8517 – Maintain Education for Dependents
If you have a child or children aged between 5 to 18 years old holding a student visa as your dependent/s, he/she/they should also be studying in Australia.
• 8533 – Inform Provider of Address
Within seven days of arriving in Australia, you should inform your education provider your residential address. If you have changed address or have enrolled in a new education programme and have been issued a new COE, you should also inform your education provider within seven days.
Don’t work over your allowed working hours and don’t move to a cheaper course without checking if you are breaching your visa conditions. Remember that once you have breached a visa condition, it remains in your file and it can affect your next visa application.
