Visa's and Immigration Requirements

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QUT staff should be aware that visa and immigration regulations are very complex and vary depending on the nationality of a student and his or her particular individual circumstances. It is recommended that only trained staff in ISBS and ISS give advice to students regarding visa and/or immigration regulations. Students may be referred to the DIAC website for information. QUT will be held liable for any difficulties students face due to incorrect advice. Staff not familiar with all details regarding these regulations should not offer information. The following overview from DIAC explains the changes to the Migration Act as follows:

Valid student visa throughout the studies

International students must have a valid student visa for the duration of their studies in Australia. Students will only be issued with a student visa for study in Australia if they seek to undertake a full-time course that is accredited and registered by the Australian Government. Permanent Residents of Australia and citizens of Australia and New Zealand are not permitted to enrol as international students.

Automatic cancellation if not complying with visa conditions

Students must satisfy other visa requirements and comply with a number of visa conditions for attendance and academic performance, which come into effect after they have entered Australia. It is important to comply with these visa conditions to avoid visa cancellation.

Conditions of student visa include:

Full-time enrolment

International students on a student visa must enrol in full-time study. At QUT, an international student is considered to be a full-time student if enrolment is at least 75% of the standard semester workload. Students who require less than a full-time load to complete their course in the final semester or who have special approval from DIAC may be permitted to study on a part-time basis. International students who hold visa types other than student visas, and have approval to enrol in a course, may be permitted to study on a part-time basis.

80% attendance

Students must attend at least 80% of all lectures and tutorials, and meet all other course requirements.

Certificate of attendance

Students who have completed an English language course, University Diploma or Foundation Program at QUT, or any non-formal course in Australia must have a satisfactory certificate of attendance from that course in order to apply for a student visa extension.

Students must remain with one education provider

Students must remain with the education provider with whom they originally enrolled for at least the first 12 months of their principal course unless they get permission from the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs to transfer. A transfer will only be allowed in exceptional circumstances. Where a student undertakes a preparatory course prior to commencing their principal course they must complete the preparatory study and 12 months of the principal course before changing provider.

Health cover at all times

International students on student visas must maintain current Overseas Student Health Cover as a condition of their visa. Students from Norway and Sweden are exempt from this condition as special arrangements have been made between the respective governments.

Current residential address at all times

Students are required to inform their education provider, within seven days of their arrival in Australia, of their residential address. They are also required to advise their provider, within seven days, of any subsequent change of residential address.

Permission to work

During semester students are allowed to work up to 20 hours per week on a student visa and during vacation are allowed to work up to 40 hours per week. Students must apply to DIAC to have their visa changed to allow them to work. They can apply on-line to www.immi.gov and click on the e-visa icon, but they must have a credit card to pay for this service (currently $55) otherwise they will need to make an appointment to go in person to the DIAC office. Permission to work student visas will only be issued after the course has commenced, not before the start of teaching. Students must provide evidence of their enrolment.

Accommodation and welfare arrangements

Students under 18 years of age, at the time of a visa being granted, and who are not living with a parent or guardian or adult person nominated by the parent or guardian, during the period of study, will be required to demonstrate, to QUT's satisfaction, that suitable accommodation and welfare arrangements have been made. These students are then provided with a statement signed by a QUT representative to present to the Australian diplomatic office when applying for their student visa.

Arrangements for dependants

Students who will be accompanied in Australia by their school age dependants must make schooling and immigration arrangements for those dependants. Information about these arrangements are contained in the publication Your Next Step which is given to the student when they are made an offer.

Leave of Absence

International students will only be granted approval to take Leave of Absence under exceptional circumstances, such as medical or bereavement reasons. All international student requesting Leave of Absence are required to attend an interview with the International Administration Coordinator, ISBS. If the Leave of Absence is not approved and the student still wants to take a break in studies, they will have to terminate their program and apply for re-admission when they wish to return. ISBS will inform DIAC of termination of course and, in most cases, the student’s visa will be cancelled and the student will be required to re-apply for a student visa before resuming studies.

QUT responsibility regarding visa violation

One aspect of the obligations on registered providers is to keep records of each accepted student (Point 21 of the ESOS 2000 Act )and to notify the appropriate agency when students breach their student visa condition. The ESOS (2000) Act, Point 20 says clearly:

'A registered provider must send an accepted student of the provider a written notice if the student has breached a student visa condition relating to attendance or satisfactory academic performance.'

When a student has been identified as violating visa conditions the university is obliged to report them via the DEST database PRISMS. A notification letter automatically prints off the system for certain violations. A letter is sent both to the student and to DIAC.

Evidentiary Standards to Obtain a Student Visa

All applicants for a student visa must provide certain evidentiary requirements according to the assessed risk level of their country of citizenship. For further information on these conditions visit the DIAC website.

Assessment factors include financial capacity, English language proficiency, potential to breach visa conditions and other relevant matters which include academic background and relevance of the course to career development.