For students who attended the Visa Information Session on 12 May, here are some follow up links from the Department of Immigration and Boarder Protection:

Specific Visa information pages:

SkillSelect and occupation information:

Processing time information:

  • Here is a link to the service standards for visa processing times: http://www.immi.gov.au/about/charters/client-services-charter/standards/2.1.htm
  • The service standard for the 485 visa is 12 months – in many cases it will be less than this but this is the time period in which we aim to process 75% of the caseload. Often the delays in processing relate to waiting for police certificates or the skills assessment (for 485 visas, but not points tested skilled visas, it is possible to submit evidence of having applied for a skills assessment as part of a valid application and then supply the positive skills assessment once it arrives). The team are currently allocating visa applications to case officers that were lodged in mid-March onwards, so there is about a 2 month wait before the case is considered. The more complete the application is when it is considered by a case officer, the faster it will be processed – when all requirements are met, the visa can be granted.

Further details about two-year programs

Here is the in depth policy advice about how the 2 year Australian study requirement is calculated:

  • Minimum of 16 calendar months
  • While students can quite legitimately compress the amount of time taken to complete a course by enrolling in summer or winter semesters or by enrolling at more than 100% of a full-time load, the Australian study requirement cannot be met in less than 16 calendar months.
  • This 16 month period commences when the applicant's study commences (generally from the commencement of lectures and excluding orientation periods) to the date at which all academic requirements have been completed.
  • The completion date is the date that the student's final exam results have been made publicly available and excluding any delay in notification of graduation due to administrative requirements such as a Graduation Evaluation period.
  • The requirement that they have been physically present in Australia whilst undertaking their studies aims to ensure that visa applicants have the opportunity to forge links with communities, prospective employers and to become more familiar generally, with living in Australia.
  • It is important to note that for the purposes of calculating length of study, if a visa applicant undertook 2 courses of study concurrently, the period of overlap can only be counted once. For example, if they had only one subject to complete their first qualification and that took 8 weeks, so they began studying towards their next qualification at the same, that 8 week period only counts for 8 weeks, not 16 weeks (that is, 8 weeks towards one course and 8 weeks towards another).

Two academic years

  • 8.1 Period of actual study
    • An 'academic year' is defined in regulation 1.03, and means a period specified by instrument to be an academic year. The current legislative instrument specifies 2 academic years to be 92 weeks.
    • In considering whether a visa applicant completed at least 2 academic years study, case officers should be aware that the intention is that the applicant have successfully completed the equivalent of 2 academic years study at 100% of the full-time load, without benefit from credits, recognition of prior learning (RPL) and/or recognition of work experience that would allow a reduction in the amount of study undertaken to less than 2 academic years.
    • It does not mean that this study must have been undertaken full time.
    • Case officers should first consider the standard duration of the applicant’s course/s as registered on CRICOS.
    • In the simplest cases, if a person does not have any recognised prior learning (RPL):
      • if they are using a single course to meet the Australian study requirement, the course must have a registered duration of at least 92 weeks or
      • if they are using more than one course to meet the Australian study requirement, the courses must have a total registered duration of at least 92 weeks.

  • 8.2 RPL and university studies
    • If a visa applicant enrolled in a university course and received credit from earlier studies in a CRICOS registered course in Australia, to determine how many credit points the applicant needed to successfully complete 2 academic years of study in that course, case officers should compare the standard duration of the course registered on CRICOS and the number of credit points that were necessary to complete the full course.
    • If a student has any credit or exemptions, their academic transcript should show sufficient detail to demonstrate that the credit they received did not reduce their study to less than 92 weeks as registered with CRICOS - for example (but not limited to):
      • the basis on which the exemption of the study was granted
      • how many units the course consisted of and the weighting of each unit
      • the CRICOS registered duration of the completed course(s) (see http://cricos.dest.gov.au/)
      • the units of the course(s) that were completed, including any credits given which may or may not meet the conditions of the Australian study requirement
      • anything else that demonstrates how much the student's study was reduced due to credit received.
    • For example, if a visa applicant enrolled in a Bachelor course with a standard duration of 3 years that comprised 48 credit points, they would have completed 2 academic years of study when they completed 32 credit points.

  • 8.3 RPL and vocational education and training (VET)
    • Where an applicant enrolled in a VET course and received credit from earlier studies, case officers should compare the standard duration of the course registered on CRICOS and the applicant's Confirmation of Enrolment to see how an institution considered the reduction in the amount of study would impact upon the duration of the person's enrolment. Even with RPL, the onus is on the applicant to prove they completed 2 academic years of study, or the full 92 weeks of study.

  • 8.4 Study load cannot be artificially extended
    • As 2 academic years of study is a measure of the amount of study successfully completed, not the length of time taken to complete the study, GSM applicants cannot artificially extend their study in order to satisfy regulation 1.15F(1)(c).
    • For example, visa applicants who enrolled at less than 100% of a full-time load and, as a consequence, took 2 years to complete a course with a registered duration of 78 weeks, have not completed 2 academic years of study. These applicants have completed only 1.5 academic years of study - they have extended the duration of their studies but not the amount of study undertaken.
    • Similarly, persons who, as a result of RPL, fall one subject short of completing 2 academic years of study cannot fail a subject with the hope of counting the same subject twice. Only study successfully completed counts towards the Australian study requirement. In the same way that an educational institution does not give credit for failed subjects, they do not count for visa purposes.

Further information is available on the Immigration website: www.immi.gov.au

Please note that this information is correct as of 14.5.14. Any updates further to this must be gained from the website listed above