Funds for Australian Student Visa

There are some most common and frequently asked questions that i get from international students who want to come and study in Australia or from those students who are already in Australia and want to extend their student visa for their further stay in Australia.

The questions are;

1.  I have sufficient amount of funds to live and study in Australia but do I need to show these funds to Visa Officer as well?
2. How do I calculate the minimum required funds to get Australian Student Visa?

 Well, here I am to assist all of you for the above mentioned questions;

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Students who DO NOT need financial documents for Australian Student Visa:

If you are a student from ANY ONE from the following 2 categories, you are good to go and lodge your student visa application without submitting financial supporting documents with your visa application;

• IF you are a student from Assessment Level 1 country for your desired course (See Assessment Level details here)
• IF you are not from Assessment Level 1 country but you are applying visa under DIBP's Streamlined Visa Processing ("SVP").

Exception:
Please be advised that there is an exception here, if for example, visa officer specifically requests student to show the financial documents, student must need to provide the documents to Visa Officer. Normally Visa Officer gives 28 days period of time to the student for him/her to arrange.

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Students who NEED financial documents for Australian Student Visa:

If you do not fall in ANY from above mentioned 2 categories, you  must satisfy visa officer that you have sufficient funds to live, study and depart from Australia. The funds that you need to show are;

Financial Requirement for Student without Spouse & Kids:

 1st year of your University/College's tuition fee (See your admission/offer letter to find out)
1st year of your living expense in Australia: $18,610 AUD
Return airfare: Usually $3000 - $4000 AUD.


Financial Requirements for Student that has family i.e. Spouse & Kids:
 If you have dependents (regardless if they are accompanying with you to Australia or not), you need to show below additional amount in addition to above mentioned financial eligibility criteria;
Tuition fee of school-age kids (from 5 - 18 years old): $8000 each
Spouse living expense: $6,515 AUD
1st child's living expense: $3,720 AUD
Each other child living expenses: $2,790 AUD

NOTE: Please be advised that in cases where student has shown the funds in his country's local currency that fluctuates rapidly, visa officer will consider the date on which visa application was lodged.
Also please be advised that the funds shown above are only 1st year of expenses. If you are planning to live more than an year, you should multiply the living cost with number of years that you want to live.
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 My Opinion:
As you would have noticed that there is no fix amount that visa applicant needs to show. . The requirement amount of fund varies as per your individual circumstances and the institute that you choose to study in Australia. Therefore, please calculate your funds carefully before you submit your visa application as if found less than required, Visa Officer may refuse the visa application without giving you the opportunity to provide more financial documents to meet the minimum eligibility criteria. If you have any question about this blog, please feel free to post in the comments below.