Are you in Australia on a Tourist visa and considering applying for a Student visa onshore? It is important to be aware that progressing from a tourist visa to a student visa in Australia whilst you remain onshore can be a complex pathway to pursue and may pose a higher risk of refusal, depending on your personal circumstances.

If you want Change Tourist to Study, you are eligible to apply for the bachelor’s or master’s that you’re itching to get.It may also be the case that an onshore student visa application is not an available option, due to what’s known as the ‘No Further Stay Condition’ imposed on your visitor visa. If you are subject to this visa condition on your tourist visa, you would be unable to progress from a tourist visa to a student visa in Australia whilst you remain onshore; in this situation, you would need to depart Australia and apply for a student visa from offshore, unless you successfully apply to the Department to have this condition waived.

When should I apply?

You can only make an application for an Australian student visa after you have received a Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE) from your chosen university. In order to get a CoE, you must have been given a formal offer by the university, have accepted it in writing, and paid the required deposit toward your tuition fees.

Can I take my partner with me on my student visa?

Yes, it is possible for your partner to accompany you to Australia as a dependent on your student visa. You will need to prove you have been in a genuine and exclusive relationship with them for at least 12 months. This usually requires you to have been living together for at least 12 months.

Also be aware that if you are seeking advice on how to convert a tourist visa to a student visa in Australia, you are actually looking at how to apply for a student visa whilst you hold a tourist or visitor visa (the terms tourist and visitor visa are interchangeable; a Subclass 600 Visitor visa includes a tourist stream). You cannot convert one visa to another. You can only apply for a visa. Keep this in mind as you read below.