Australia guide · Student visa
How to get an Australian student visa from Nepal
You apply online for the Student visa (subclass 500) once you have your Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE). The fee is AUD 2,500, about Rs 2.65 lakh. The officer checks four things: that you're a genuine student, that your money is real and enough, that your English meets the rule, and that you have health cover. Most of our files got a decision 2 to 8 weeks after lodging.
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 · 7 min read
The Australian student visa at a glance
- Visa
- Student visa (subclass 500)
- Fee
- AUD 2,500 (about Rs 2.65 lakh), from 1 July 2026
- Money to show
- First-year tuition + AUD 29,710 living costs + travel
- English
- IELTS Academic 6.0 or the equal PTE or TOEFL score, for most courses
- Work
- 48 hours a fortnight in term, unlimited in breaks
- Where you apply
- Online, in ImmiAccount. Biometrics at VFS Kathmandu
As of October 2026, at Rs 105.97 per AUD (Nepal Rastra Bank, 18 October 2026).
What the visa officer checks
Every Australian student visa decision comes down to the same few questions. Get these right and the rest is paperwork.
| Requirement | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| Enrolment | A Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE) from a CRICOS-registered course. You get it after you accept the offer and pay the deposit |
| Genuine Student | Your reasons for this course, this university and Australia make sense for your background and plans. Our Genuine Student guide covers the questions |
| Money | Enough to pay first-year tuition, AUD 29,710 for living costs and your travel, from a source you can explain. See bank balance for an Australian student visa |
| English | A score from a Home Affairs approved test, taken in person: IELTS Academic 6.0 overall or the equal for most courses. Lower scores are allowed if an English course comes first |
| Health cover | Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) for your whole stay |
| Health and character | A health check at a panel clinic when asked, and a clean record |
Money and the Genuine Student answers decide most files. English, health cover and the CoE are either there or not; the officer has no room to doubt them. Money and reasons are where officers doubt, and where most Nepali refusals come from.
How to apply for an Australian student visa, step by step
The visa is the last big step, not the first. This is the order for a student applying from Nepal.
- Get your offer letter. Usually 3 to 7 weeks after you apply to the university.
- Accept it and get your NOC. Apply on the Ministry of Education's portal once you know the fee. Our NOC guide has each step. No Nepali bank will send your deposit without it.
- Pay the deposit and OSHC. Usually the first semester's tuition plus health cover, paid by bank transfer to the university.
- Receive your CoE. The university issues it once the payment lands, often within a week.
- Create your ImmiAccount on the Home Affairs website and start the subclass 500 application.
- Answer the Genuine Student questions and upload every document, scanned in colour. Names and dates must match across all of them.
- Pay the AUD 2,500 fee and lodge. You get an acknowledgement and a transaction reference number.
- Give biometrics at VFS Global in Kathmandu when the request letter arrives.
- Do your health check at a panel clinic in Kathmandu if asked. The request comes with an HAP ID.
- Answer any request for more information quickly, within the days the letter gives you.
- Get the decision by email. Read the grant letter's conditions before you book a flight.
Lodge at least 8 weeks before your course starts. February and July are the busy intakes, and a late file can miss the start date even when it's approved.
Documents for the Australian student visa
Upload clear colour scans of the originals, with certified English translations of anything in Nepali.
- Passport, valid for the whole course
- Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE) and OSHC policy
- Genuine Student answers, written by you
- SEE, +2 and bachelor's marksheets, transcripts and certificates
- English test score report
- Bank balance certificate and statements, or the education loan sanction letter
- Sponsor's income proof: salary letters and tax, business registration and tax clearance, rental agreements
- Property valuation, and the relationship certificate from your ward office
- Experience letters with salary or tax proof for any gap
- No Objection Certificate (NOC) and payment receipts
- Birth certificate, and marriage certificate if a partner is coming
We verify bank papers directly with your bank before anything is lodged. A document that can't be verified is worse than a document that isn't there.
Visa fee, other costs and how long it takes
| Cost | Amount | Paid to |
|---|---|---|
| Student visa (subclass 500) | AUD 2,500, about Rs 2.65 lakh | Australian Government |
| OSHC, single | About AUD 650 to 800 a year | Insurer, usually through the university |
| Biometrics | Set by VFS; we give you the current figure | VFS Global, Kathmandu |
| Health check | Set by the panel clinic | Panel clinic, Kathmandu |
| NOC | Rs 2,000 | Ministry of Education |
| Our fee, if you use us | Rs 20,000 per application file | Prasthan Education, by bank |
Home Affairs publishes current processing times on the subclass 500 page, and they move with the season. In our files, most decisions came 2 to 8 weeks after lodging. Files with gaps, a new sponsor or large recent deposits took longer, because the officer asked for more.
If the visa is refused, the visa fee doesn't come back. Under Australian law the university keeps at most 5% of tuition or AUD 500, whichever is less, of your deposit, and unused OSHC is refundable.
Why Australian student visas get refused from Nepal
Last year 44 of our 512 Australia files were refused. Almost every one fell into one of these.
- Money with no story. A large deposit just before lodging, a loan the family can't explain, or a sponsor whose income doesn't match the savings.
- A course that doesn't follow. A science graduate choosing a cookery diploma, with no reason written down.
- An unexplained gap. Years after +2 or a bachelor's with nothing to show what you did.
- Documents that don't match. A different date of birth, name spelling or employer across papers.
- English short of the rule, or a test taken online that Home Affairs doesn't accept.
A refusal is a file problem, not a fate. It comes with a written reason. Re-applying without fixing that reason is how students get refused twice. Aashma, from Chitwan, was refused through another agent because a two-year gap after her +2 wasn't explained. We documented her two years running the accounts for her family's shop, with the shop's tax records, and she was approved on her second file for the same course.
If you applied from Nepal, a refused student visa usually can't be appealed. You fix the reason and apply again, so it's worth getting the first file right.
After the visa is granted
Your grant letter lists conditions. The ones that catch Nepali students are:
- Work: no more than 48 hours a fortnight while your course is in session.
- Course progress and attendance: failing subjects can put your visa at risk.
- Health cover: keep OSHC active for your whole stay.
- Your address: tell your university within 7 days if it changes.
Our Australia page covers your first week, part-time work and the 485 visa after study.
