Make sure you know the rules, regulations and visa conditions. These are stated on the department’s website. If you don’t know the exact period of your study visa, you should apply for a student visa by using Form 956, an Online Application for an (Extension of Stay).  Ask your institution’s International Student Office for assistance.  You’ll need to lodge the extended student visa application from outside Australia, or from offshore at least 3 months prior to your arrival in Australia.  Once you receive a response regarding your new student visa application, you should use this to book travel to Australia.This article is about the process of how to extend your student visa Australia. The student visa grants you the opportunity to work in Australia full-time while you study.

How Extend Student Visa In Australia

The visas for international students extend the time limit for which it is permissible for an applicant to be in Australia on a temporary visa. In most cases, an applicant would want to extend his/her visa should he or she wish to stay with their family and continue his/her studies further.

Renewing your student visa

• ON THIS PAGE
• How to apply for a new visa
• Extending your visa for thesis submission
• Refused applications
• Staying in Australia
• More information

The Australian government has updated information regarding student visas during the COVID-19 pandemic. For more information, see our visa FAQs.

While it is not possible to renew your student visa, you can apply for a new one if your old one will expire before you can complete your course.

Department of Home Affairs (DHA) update on visa processing

• If you are waiting for your visa approval, please check your ImmiAccount regularly and act quickly on requests for further information or documentation. Delayed action may result in your application being declined and a two-year wait to reapply.
• If you haven’t started your visa application, make sure that your application is complete and includes all relevant documents before submitting.

Reasons to apply for a new visa may include:

• Your current visa will expire before you can complete your course due to failed subjects in your final study period, a Leave of Absence, or Reduced Study Load
• You have commenced a new course
• Your graduate research candidature has been extended
• You have submitted a graduate research thesis for marking, but your current visa will expire before the marking can be finalised
• Your first visa was cancelled administratively by the Department of Home Affairs.

If you’re changing courses or levels of study, please see Changing courses or providers for more information.

How to apply for a new visa

We generally recommend applying for a new visa no earlier than four months before your current visa expires. This does not prevent you from requesting a Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE).

If you’ve had a previous visa cancelled by the Department of Home Affairs for a breach of your visa conditions, we recommend seeking assistance from a qualified migration agent or lawyer.

Student visa fee waiver eligibility (Form 1545)

The Department of Home Affairs will waive the visa application fee if you held a student visa on or after 1 February 2020 and aren’t able to complete your course within the original visa dates due to the impacts of COVID-19. The fee waiver is only valid for situations where you:

• had to take leave from your course due to travel restrictions,
• were forced to reduce to a part-time study because the University of Melbourne couldn’t provide you with a required or core subject(s), or
• were unable to complete your work-based training or placements.

If you needed to apply for a student visa prior to 2020 due to ordinary reasons, such as being suspended, taking leave of absence, a reduced study load, or failing subjects, you won’t be assessed as eligible. This includes students who voluntarily reduced their study load or had leave due to the impact of COVID-19.

How to apply

If you meet the eligibility requirements, please submit an enquiry here – select ‘Enrolment’, then ‘Student visa’. Please include ‘1545 request’ in the subject line of your enquiry.

• Step one: Extend your Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC)
• Step two: Request a new Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE)
• Step three: Consider your location
• Step four: Submit your application
• Step five: Update your visa status

Extending your visa for thesis submission

Finishing on time

Graduate researchers must finish their thesis within their expected course duration.

If you don’t submit your thesis by the expected date, your Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE) will finish and you will have 28 days to depart the country or make other visa arrangements.

If you submit your thesis and receive notification that it has been accepted for examination within 28 days after your expected submission date, you should request a Confirmation of Marking Thesis (CMT) letter immediately. This will confirm your eligibility to remain in Australia during the examination period. Your work rights will also continue. If your candidature was confirmed after 31 December 2017 and you submit after reaching your maximum course duration your thesis will only be accepted for examination if you have approval for late submission.

Request a CMT letter

If your visa expires before submission

If you have had multiple extensions to your candidature, your visa may not be long enough for you to submit your thesis. If this happens, you need to request a new CoE and apply for a new student visa.

If your visa expires during examination

If you submit your thesis while still in Australia, but your visa will expire before examination can be finalised, you will need to request a Confirmation of Marking Thesis (CMT) letter and apply for a new student visa. Doing so will entitle you to stay in Australia until examination is concluded.

Refused applications

If your student visa is refused, please contact our student visa team.

Staying in Australia

If you’ve finished studying but want to stay on in Australia, there are a range of visas you may be able to apply for. See Staying in Australia for more information.