Australia Student Visa from Pakistan: Subclass 500, Genuine Student and Refusals
Australia's subclass 500 student visa from Pakistan: the Genuine Student test, funds, OSHC, processing priority by provider, the 485 visa and refusals.
Last checked against official sources on 25 September 2026
QUICK ANSWER
How much does an Australian student visa cost from Pakistan, and how long does it take?
The Student visa (subclass 500) costs A$2,500 for the main applicant, and family members pay extra. Home Affairs decided 90% of recent higher education applications within 4 months, and half within 16 days, so allow 3–5 months before your intake.
Checked on the official sites on 13 October 2026. Fees and times change, so confirm them on the linked page before you pay. Visa centre charges and any consultant's fee are extra.
Australia's Student visa (subclass 500) covers full-time study in a course registered on CRICOS, the government's register of approved courses. You apply online from Pakistan with a Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE) from your provider, Overseas Student Health Cover and, if the Department asks for it, evidence of your English and funds.
Two things decide most Pakistani applications. The first is the Genuine Student requirement: whether your course follows sensibly from your background and plans. The second is where your provider stands under the government's ministerial direction, which sets the order applications are processed in — applications to providers that have used more of their allocation start later. It does not decide the outcome, but it can decide whether you make your intake.
Most refusals come down to one of four
01A genuine student
02A course that follows
03Funds you can trace
04Every document asked for
AUAustralia · Student visaFACT SHEET
Visa
Student visa (subclass 500), for a full-time course registered on CRICOS
Key test
The Genuine Student requirement, answered in the application form
Processing order
Set by ministerial direction, by how far your provider is through its allocation
Health cover
Overseas Student Health Cover for your whole stay, arranged before you apply
Work
Up to 48 hours a fortnight while your course is in session
After study
Temporary Graduate visa (485): two years after a bachelor's or coursework master's
In the order it happens. Each stage waits on the one before it, so the date you start decides the date you finish. Ranges, not promises — the mission owns the clock.
START TO FINISH3–5 monthsbefore your intake
1First
Choose a provider and course that fit
The course must be registered on CRICOS and should follow from your education and work. Check your provider's processing priority status on the day you plan to apply — the Department publishes it for universities.
21–4 weeks
Accept the offer and get your CoE
Accept the offer, pay the deposit and arrange OSHC, and the provider issues the CoE. Most providers run their own genuine student checks before they do.
3
Check your document list
The Department's Document Checklist Tool shows what evidence of English and funds you must attach, based on your passport and provider. Run it again just before you apply, because it is updated twice a year.
41–2 weeks
Health checks and polio certificate
Have the health examinations done at a panel clinic when the Department asks, and get a polio vaccination certificate. Pakistan is on the list of polio-risk countries, so the certificate is expected.
5
Apply online and answer the Genuine Student questions
Apply in ImmiAccount from outside Australia. Answer each question in your own words: your circumstances in Pakistan, why this course and provider, and how it will help your career.
6Allow 4–12 weeks
Biometrics and processing
Give biometrics if you are asked. The Department aims to start processing priority 1 applications within 1–4 weeks of lodgement, priority 2 within 5–8 weeks and priority 3 within 9–12 weeks; the decision comes after that.
7
Before you fly
Once the visa is granted, check its conditions in VEVO. Your OSHC must start on the day you arrive, not the day your course starts.
The official figures are in the quick answer at the top, as checked on 13 October 2026. They change without notice, so each line here says what a cost depends on and where the current figure is published.
Paid with the application
The visa application charge
The visa application charge is set by the Department and shown in its Visa Pricing Estimator. Family members who apply with you pay their own charges.
FIGUREVisa Pricing Estimator
Bought before you apply
Overseas Student Health Cover
OSHC is bought from an approved insurer for the whole stay. The price depends on the insurer, the length of cover and who is included.
FIGUREThe insurer
Shown, not paid
The funds you may be asked for
The funds you may be asked to show are set by the Department: travel, twelve months of course fees and twelve months of living costs per person. It publishes the living-cost figures on the Student visa page and changes them from time to time.
FIGUREHome Affairs
Paid to third parties
Health checks and tests
Health examinations, the English test and the polio certificate are paid to the clinic and the test provider.
This is general guidance. Rules change, sometimes without notice, and your case will have specifics this page cannot know about. Check anything decisive on the official pages, or send us your situation and we will tell you where you actually stand.
Read before you apply
Why Australia student visa applications are refused
The grounds that come up most on files from Pakistan. Most of them can be dealt with before you submit.
REFUSED
01
Template Genuine Student answers
Genuine Student answers that are generic or copied from a template — they stand out.
02
A course that does not follow
A course that does not follow from your background — a diploma after a master's, or an unrelated field — with no convincing reason.
03
Funds that cannot be traced
Funds that cannot be traced: a single-day balance certificate, a large recent deposit, or a relative's money without proof of how it was built up.
04
Little to return to
Little to return to in Pakistan, and a course that reads as a route to migration rather than study.
05
Evidence left out
Evidence the Document Checklist Tool asked for but you did not attach; the Department can refuse without asking again.
06
An old or at-home English test
An English test more than two years old when you apply, or one taken online at home.
07
An undeclared refusal or cancellation
An earlier visa refusal or cancellation, in Australia or elsewhere, that is not declared.
Already been refused?
Send us the refusal letter before you do anything else. It states the grounds, and they decide whether applying again is worth it or would just cost you the fee a second time.
Two agents cover WhatsApp between them, so this reaches a person rather than an inbox. The first assessment is free and you get a straight answer, including when that answer is no.
YOUR MESSAGE PREVIEW
ApkaVisa · live agentonline now
Assalam-o-Alaikum! I'd like a free assessment.
Service: Study Visa
Destination: Australia
(ref: form-guide-student-visa-australia)
The formula is travel, plus the first twelve months of course fees, plus twelve months of living costs for you and each family member coming with you. The Department publishes the living-cost figures. Instead of savings, you can show that your parents or spouse earned the required income in the last twelve months, using tax records.
It replaced the old GTE statement on 23 March 2024. You answer short questions in the application about your circumstances, why this course and provider in Australia, and how it will benefit you. The officer weighs your whole situation, including your immigration history.
Processing order follows the provider, not the student. Applications to providers that have reached their allocation fall into priority 2 or 3 and start later. It does not change whether you are granted, but it can cost you an intake, so check your provider's status before you apply.
Up to 48 hours a fortnight while your course is in session. Students on a master's by research or a doctorate, and their families, have no limit. The Department expects you not to rely on work to pay your fees or living costs.
The Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485) gives two years after a bachelor's or coursework master's, and three years after a research master's or PhD. You must apply within six months of finishing, generally aged 35 or under, having held a Student visa in the last six months.
RANKED · PK → AU
Top 10 Australia student visa consultants in Pakistan
Rather compare agencies? These list the Australia student visa in ApkaVisa's directory, across all ten cities.
Ranked by listing tier — Sponsored, then Featured, Verified and Free — and within each tier by how many public Google reviews the agency has. The ratings are Google's, as its listing showed them; we don't check them or vouch for them, and paid places are always labelled. You contact the agency directly; ApkaVisa doesn't sit in between. How the Top 10 is ordered
Keep reading
More on Australia
The other guides we have written for this country — each covers one visa in full.
