Australia’s student visa new rules announced by the immigration department. International students will have to show increased financial capacity requirements. This ranges to AUD 29,710 for the applicants themselves or if they have been sponsored by the guardians from 10 May.
In 2024, the Australian government has already introduced many other tougher changes in the student visa rules. From 23 March 2024, a requirement of Genuine Student (GS) has been implemented instead of Genuine Temporary Entrant (GTE). From this date, international students will also have to show higher English language proficiency requirements. The new rules will better help Australian immigration prospects.
Australia’s Student Visa New Rules
Details of new rules from 23 March 2024 and 10 May 2024 are as follows:
What are the new Bank Statement rules for Australian Student Visa?
From 10 May 2024, international students will have to show higher financial capacity. The new changes are:
| Applicant type | Financial capacity requirement after 10 May 2024 |
| primary applicant | AUD29,710 |
| spouse or de facto partner of the Student primary applicant (not applicable to Student Guardian applicant) | AUD10,394 |
| dependent child | AUD4,449 |
| annual school costs | AUD13,502 |
| personal annual income if there is no member of the family | AUD87,856 |
| personal annual income where there is a member of the family unit | AUD102,500 |
This means, the international student who applies for the visa after 10 May 2024, will have to show a bank statement in which they have AUD 29,710 or equivalent money in local currency.
According to the immigration department, these students pass 75% of the time in a year in studying courses and they have 25% time left in which they can work full time. The new changes have been set according to the inflation level in the country and new changes and the set-aside amount is 75% of the annual income in Australia.
Change in Rules for English Language Scores
From 23 March 2024, international students and applicants for temporary graduate visas have to show higher scores in English language tests, which are as follows:
International Students
| Type of Entry | New IELTS Score Required (from 10 May 2024) |
| Direct course entry | 6 Band Score (or its equivalent) |
| Undertake a packaged ELICOS from IELTS | 5 Band Score (or its equivalent) |
| Studying English only through ELICOS | No change |
| Undertaking university foundation or pathway programs that deliver reputable English language training | 5.5 Band Score (or its equivalent) |
Temporary Graduate Visa
To get the temporary graduate visa, the minimum score required now is an IELTS test score of 6.5 (or equivalent), with a minimum score of 5.5 for each component of the test (reading, writing, speaking, and listening). The test validity duration has also been decreased from 3 to 1 year.
Change in Genuine Student Requirements
Starting from 23 March 2024, the requirement of Genuine Student (GS) replaces Genuine Temporary Entrant (GTE). This will help the Australian immigration department to better understand the intention of international students if they want to get a student visa for settling in Australia or for only temporary study purposes.
This simply means that Australia is no longer interested in your intention of a temporary stay in the country. You should now only prove that you are a genuine student and that your stay is permanent or not has nothing to do with the visa issuance.
These new changes will help Australia use most of the skills of the international students that they have gained with time with their own money. International students will through their skills and experience in Australia get a permanent residence visa as well. In this way, the local labor market will also have well-trained, integrated, and locally qualified professionals.