Your Pre-visa application will be assessed on the basis of the following criteria:
(i) Evidence of Enrolment
One of the important requirements for a student visa application is that you must be accepted for enrolment, to undertake a course, by a Government registered Australian education institution. This is verified by the advice of acceptance from the Australian institution (commonly known as Letter of Offer), which is issued to a student who has been offered enrolment in a full-time course. You should not pay any part of the course tuition fee prior to the outcome of the PVA.
(ii) Financial Ability
Sponsor/s will have to provide documentary evidence of having cash assets ( immediately encashable assets like savings and fixed deposits in banks) held for atleast 6 months prior to the pre-visa application date. For school applicants, funds need to be held for 3 months prior to the pre-visa application date.
Who can be a Sponsor?
Sponsor/s can be the applicant, parents, grandparents, or spouse only ( relatives like brother /sister /uncle /aunt /cousin / family friend are not acceptable). School applicants have no restriction on sponsor/s.
How much funds have to be shown?
- For Masters and Doctorate Courses
Sponsors must provide evidence of cash assets for the first year tuition fee (as on the letter of offer) and living expenses (assumed at A$ 12000 p.a.) and access to additional funds (from acceptable sources) to meet the cost of the remainder of study and stay in Australia.
Commercial loans from Banks and government loans are acceptable.
- For Vocational Education and Training (VET), TAFE, Higher Education and School courses
Sponsors must provide evidence of cash assets covering tuition fee and living expenses of the entire duration of the proposed and pre-requisite course (including foundation/ELICOS/Bridging program that precedes the main course).
(iii) English Proficiency
All students have to demonstrate a minimum level of proficiency, measured by an IELTS overall band score of atleast 6.0, except those enrolling for a Diploma course (VET) in which case 5.5 is acceptable. Please note that TOEFL score is not acceptable and IELTS is compulsory even if the student has studied in English medium institutions throughout his/her academic career.
Further Processing:
If you are advised that you meet the PVA requirements, you will be asked to undergo further processing. This includes payment of course tuition fee to the Australian educational institution and a medical examination. It is essential that the student and the accompanying dependent(s) meet the Australian Health requirements before a visa may be granted.
As a general rule, applicants should allow a four (4) to six (6) week timeframe for processing of applications.
