Australia student visa from Pakistan: the process explained

The Australian Student visa (subclass 500) is for full-time study on a course registered on CRICOS, the government's register of courses for international students. You apply online, from Pakistan, in ImmiAccount. This guide follows the usual order for an applicant in Pakistan, and includes the rules that changed on 2 October 2026.

1. Choose a registered course and get your CoE

Choose a full-time course registered on CRICOS. Once you accept the offer and pay what the provider asks, it issues a Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE). You need a CoE for every course you will study (for example an English course followed by a degree), and you attach it when you apply: an application without one is invalid.

When Home Affairs starts working on your application depends partly on your provider. Under the current processing order (Ministerial Direction 115), applications to providers that are still under 80% of their allocation of new international students go first; providers over their allocation come later. Ask your provider where it stands.

2. Buy health cover

You must hold Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) from the day you arrive until your visa ends, and the application asks for the policy details.

3. Show the money for a year

For 12 months, Home Affairs asks for:

• AUD 29,710 living costs for you;
• the first year's tuition; and
• AUD 2,000 travel from Pakistan.

Instead, a parent or your partner can show a personal yearly income of at least AUD 87,856 in the year before you apply, with official documents such as tax assessments (bank statements do not count for this).

Home Affairs wants to see where the money came from: "a bank balance certificate across a single day" does not show how you built up the funds. For a loan, show its terms and the security, and if possible that it has been paid out.

4. Show your English

The usual scores for tests taken from 7 August 2025 are:

• IELTS 6.0 overall, or 5.5 with at least 10 weeks of English classes (ELICOS) before your course, or 5.0 with 20 weeks;
• PTE Academic 47 (39 or 31 with ELICOS);
• TOEFL iBT 67, booked as "Taking TOEFL for Australia".

Home Affairs' Document Checklist Tool shows which financial and English evidence you must attach for your passport and your provider. Plan to attach both.

5. Answer the Genuine Student questions

The application asks a few questions, in English and up to 150 words each: your situation in Pakistan (family, work, ties), why this course with this provider in Australia, and how it helps you. Back your answers with evidence such as transcripts, work records and your immigration history. Hoping to stay in Australia later does not count against you on its own.

6. Apply online, from Pakistan

Apply in ImmiAccount and pay AUD 2,500 (AUD 2,050 for an English-only course). Since 2 October 2026:

• most students can no longer include a partner or children, and family cannot join later; PhD students and some government-sponsored students are among the exceptions;
• most further student visas can no longer be applied for from inside Australia; and
• someone in Australia on a visitor visa cannot apply for a student visa there.

7. Health checks, polio and biometrics

Pakistan counts as a high-risk country for tuberculosis, so for study of 6 months or more you need a medical examination and, from age 11, a chest x-ray with a Home Affairs panel physician in Islamabad, Lahore or Karachi. Book with the HAP ID from ImmiAccount.

The High Commission asks applicants from Pakistan for a polio (IPV) dose within 12 months of travel; missing it can delay or stop a visa.

If Home Affairs asks for your biometrics, walk in to the VFS Global centre in Islamabad, Lahore or Karachi with your passport and the letter. No appointment is needed.

8. How long it takes, and work

For higher education, half of applications are decided in 16 days and 90% in 4 months; vocational courses take longer. On the visa you may work up to 48 hours a fortnight while your course is in session.

See the Australia student visa page for the fees in rupees and the full document list.