Australia Student Visa (Subclass 500): Costs, English, Work Rights 2026

The real numbers behind Australia's Subclass 500 student visa — the visa fee, the financial capacity figure, the English test table, and the 48-hour fortnightly work limit. And where the 485 pathway actually leads after you graduate. Figures as at September 2026.

Read the full guide, with official sources →

Watch

Chapters

  1. 0:00 No cap — 178,194 granted in 6 months
  2. 0:16 Your course must be CRICOS registered
  3. 0:29 Genuine Student replaced GTE, 23 March 2024
  4. 0:42 IELTS 6.0 — lower if packaged with ELICOS
  5. 0:58 Exempt from English testing entirely
  6. 1:10 AUD29,710 a year, plus dependants
  7. 1:25 Or: parental income, AUD87,856+
  8. 1:37 A history of funds, not a single-day balance
  9. 1:48 The visa charge: AUD2,500
  10. 2:01 48 hours a fortnight during term
  11. 2:12 6 months before you can transfer providers
  12. 2:22 The 485: renamed, not the same as before
  13. 2:35 Where to read more

Transcript

Applying for Australia's student visa? There is no cap on how many are granted. Home Affairs approved 178,194 in just the last 6 months of 2025.

First, your course has to be CRICOS registered. Search it at the CRICOS website, run by the Department of Education. Not CRICOS registered means your visa is refused.

The Genuine Student requirement replaced the old Genuine Temporary Entrant test on 23 March 2024. It's answered with online questions of around 150 words each, not one big statement.

For tests taken from 7 August 2025, the visa's own English floor is IELTS 6.0 overall. Package your course with 10 weeks of ELICOS and it drops to 5.5, or 20 weeks and it drops to 5.0.

Some applicants skip the English test entirely. Passport holders from the UK, USA, Canada, New Zealand or Ireland are exempt — so are postgraduate research students.

Now the money. You need 12 months of tuition, plus living costs — currently AUD29,710 for you, AUD10,394 for a partner, and AUD4,449 for each child who comes with you.

Instead of savings, you can show your parents or partner earned at least AUD87,856 in the past 12 months — or AUD102,500 if family is coming too.

Home Affairs doesn't want a single-day balance certificate. It wants to see how the money built up over time — regular payments, salary growth, an explained history.

The visa charge itself is separate again — currently AUD2,500 for the higher-education stream, plus AUD1,530 for each adult and AUD500 for each child on the application.

Once you're studying, you and your partner can work up to 48 hours a fortnight combined during term. During school holidays, there's no limit at all.

Changing education providers has a real restriction too: generally you can't transfer within the first 6 months of your principal course, unless your provider agrees to release you.

After graduating, the direct pathway is the Temporary Graduate visa — now called Post-Higher Education Work for degree holders, or Post-Vocational Education Work for an MLTSSL-relevant diploma.

The full guide, with the official sources, is on migratio.com.au. The link is in the description.

Short versions

Talk it through with a registered agent

Every agent on Migratio is on the official OMARA register. Compare agents and their consultation fees.

Related Migratio resources