Australia guide · Student visa
The Genuine Student requirement for Nepali students, question by question
The Genuine Student (GS) requirement asks one thing: is studying your main reason for going to Australia? You answer a few short questions in the visa form, about 150 words each, on your circumstances, why this course and university, and how it helps you. It replaced the old GTE statement in March 2024. A specific answer that matches your documents passes; a copied template fails.
Written bySushma Karki, Senior counsellorHandles Australia and Finland files, from offer letter to visa.
Checked byRabindra Joshi, Head of complianceChecks every money and visa page against the official source.
Published · 6 min read
The GS requirement at a glance
- What it replaced
- The Genuine Temporary Entrant (GTE) statement, on 23 March 2024
- Where you answer
- Inside the visa application in ImmiAccount
- Length
- Up to about 150 words per question
- What's judged
- Your background, your course choice, your plans and your money, together
- Who writes it
- You, in your own words. A counsellor can check it
As of October 2026.
What the Genuine Student requirement is
The GS requirement is how a Home Affairs officer decides whether you're really going to Australia to study. It replaced the Genuine Temporary Entrant (GTE) test on 23 March 2024.
The biggest change: you no longer have to prove you'll leave Australia after your course. Home Affairs accepts that some students go on to work or migrate through a legal pathway. What you must prove is that study is the main reason you're going now.
The long GTE essay is gone too. Instead of one long statement, you answer a few targeted questions in the form itself, each with a word limit. That makes every sentence count.
The Genuine Student questions
The form asks you about:
- Your current circumstances: family, community, work and money in Nepal.
- Why this course, with this university, in Australia, and what you understand about studying and living there.
- How the course will benefit you, in your career and your life.
- Anything else relevant, including past visa refusals or study in Australia.
If you've been refused a visa before, for any country, the officer will read your answers against that history. Say what happened and what's different now.
What officers look for in a Nepali file
Officers don't read your answers alone. They read them next to your marksheets, your money papers and your work history, and look for things that don't fit.
| The officer asks | What convinces them |
|---|---|
| Does the course follow from your past? | A clear line from your +2 stream, bachelor's or job to this course. If you're changing field, a real reason with evidence |
| Why this university, not a cheaper one? | Specific reasons: course units, placements, location, a professional accreditation. Not "world-ranked" |
| Why Australia, not Nepal or another country? | What the course offers that a Nepali programme doesn't, compared honestly |
| What did you do in your gap? | Letters, payslips, tax records or business papers that cover every month |
| Does the money add up? | Answers that match your money file, including how year 2 will be paid |
| What happens after? | A realistic plan: a job type, an employer sector, a salary you've looked up |
Consistency beats eloquence. A plain answer that matches every document is stronger than polished English that contradicts your CV.
How to answer each question in 150 words
Use the four questions as four short, factual paragraphs. Here is what we ask students to put in each.
Your circumstances
Who you live with, what your parents do, what you've done since your last qualification, and what ties you to Nepal: family, property, a job or business. Name places and years.
Why this course, university and Australia
Name 2 or 3 units of the course and why they matter to you. Say why this university over others you looked at. Compare it with what you could study in Nepal, fairly.
How the course benefits you
The job you're aiming for, the kind of employer, and what it pays compared with what you'd earn now. Use real figures you've looked up, not "a bright future".
Anything else
Explain a gap, a refusal, a change of field or a sponsor who isn't a parent. If there's nothing to add, keep it short.
Weak: "Australia has world-class education and multicultural society, so I want to study there." Strong: "I worked 2 years as a staff nurse at a hospital in Butwal. The Master of Nursing's aged care and leadership units are not offered in Nepal, and the course includes a clinical placement." The second one can be checked, so it's believed.
Mistakes that get Genuine Student answers refused
- Copying a sample. Officers read thousands of answers from Nepal. Repeated phrases from the same template stand out.
- Answers a counsellor wrote and you can't explain. If you're interviewed, you must speak to every line.
- A course that's a step down. A master's graduate enrolling in a diploma, with no reason, looks like a work plan, not a study plan.
- A gap with no papers. "I was preparing for IELTS" for 2 years isn't believable.
- Money that contradicts the story. A family business that pays for everything but shows no tax records.
- Talking only about PR. Plans after study are allowed, but if migration is the only reason you give, study isn't your main purpose.
Last year 44 of our 512 Australia files were refused, and most of the refusal letters pointed to either the money or the reasons. Those two parts of the file are where we spend most of our time.
How we help with your Genuine Student answers
We don't write your answers for you. You write them, in your own words, and we check every line against your documents and ask the questions an officer would ask. If a reason doesn't hold up, we'd rather find out in our office than in a refusal letter.
Prakriti, one of our nursing students in Adelaide, had a 3-year gap. It wasn't a problem, because she'd spent it working as a nurse and every month was on paper. The GS answers just had to say so clearly.
Your answers sit inside the full visa file. The Australian student visa guide covers every other part, and the bank balance guide covers the money your answers must match.
