LeliaThomas.Com

Immigrating to Australia, Part I

After being away for a lot longer than I intended, I thought it might be appropriate to write an entry on all that has occurred in the last 40 or so days. Please don’t consider this as “just a personal entry” that’s worth no more than diary fodder. While this series of entries will be about my move specifically and will tell about my experiences, I will provide lots of helpful information for those who are wishing to immigrate to Australia, especially if you are a student and looking to immigrate temporarily on a student visa.

Step #1: Knowing What You Want

It’s almost hypocritical for me to say this, because I wasn’t entirely sure of what I would face in coming to Australia, but, when possible, know what you want. When you’ve got a roundabout idea of that, then start on your immigration process. The sooner, the better. I started in March of this year, and through various events that were completely out of my control, I ended up paying twice for my visa because of slow processing (will discuss more later). If possible, I recommend allotting five to six months to get your visa application and its supporting documentation in order.

Know which Australian visas you can apply for and what they mean. Do not test the Australian government’s immigration department. Unlike some countries, *cough* America *cough*, Australia is very strict when it comes to immigration. Know everything you can about your visa and your rights as a temporary resident. Links to help you are as follows:

• Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs, or DIMIA/DIMA, is a website you really need to get to know. It is actually the domain of all the next few sites, so it’s very important.
• The Visa and Immigration on DIMIA lists all the various categories of visas. Note that some visas are harder to acquire than others. Ask fellow immigrants online before hopping into one specific process.
• The Student Visas page on DIMIA will help you through your process as a student. Note that on a student visa, you are allowed to reside in Australia for the length of your course. So if you’re taking a three-year study for your bachelor’s degree, your visa will only last for those three years.

Also, if you don’t have one already, you’ll need a passport. Duh.

Step #2: Applying to an Australian University

Once you have a general idea of what you want in terms of your visa and your education, begin applying to one or more Australian universities. I can’t stress it enough: the sooner, the better.

• This might seem obvious, but know which Australian state you want to study and live in. Considering most of Australia’s population is urbanized–the majority of people live on the coast where there’s more water–a great many universities may exist in each major city. I recommend choosing a state and/or city that you think you’d like, and then applying to universities from there, unless you’re set on going to a specific university for certain reasons.
• Apply to a university, or universities, as soon as possible. This is a must if you’re going on a student visa, because documentation from that school will be a requirement for your visa application. To apply to an Australian university, you’ll need transcripts, standardized testing results (if you’re American, things like the ACT or SAT), and a certified piece of paper with the breakdown of your country or school’s grading scale. If you’re from a country where English is not the native and/or spoken language, you will need documentation proving you at least have textbook knowledge of English.

I happened to know which school I wanted to go to, Swinburne University, and knowing my grades were good, I only applied to it. (Unless you have good grades, I don’t recommend doing that.) It may or may not be different with other institutions, but for me, it only took three weeks before I was accepted; one week of those three would have been dedicated to the mailing of my documents alone.

• Helpful Tip: Something I had no way of knowing but wish I had known is that there are a lot of “helpful” government sites for students wanting to go to Australia. Toss them to the wayside unless you know that’s your specific case, such as a university you already attend has a semester abroad program (that’s a different kind of situation). What I do recommend is getting to know people who have immigrated to Australia on a multitude of visas. Real people will give real and honest answers; that’s what you need. Check out Yahoo! Groups for some wonderful communities of immigrants to Australia. If you’re American, I recommend the Americans in Australia group, which has almost 1,000 people in it. If you’re an American going to Melbourne like I was, try Melb-Americans.

Step #3: Letter of Offer, Payments and Your CoE

If you have been accepted into an Australian university, you will receive an invaluable letter via email and mail. It is your Letter of Offer, which is Australia’s code name for “hey, your grades aren’t too crappy, and we’ll take your money now, k thx.”

As an international student, you will pay full tuition, as opposed to citizens who have other options, just like in any other country. Depending on what country you hail from, paying your semester tuition may or may not hit you incredibly hard. Beyond that, the exchange rate of your country’s currency into Australian dollars may be to your benefit or detriment; know before you pay. Most courses at Australian universities will cost you $15,000 to $18,000AUD per annum, or $11,400 to $13,700USD. Call your credit card company to see what it costs to use your card for foreign exchanges. You may find it cheaper to use a credit card to pay than to wire money or make other transactions through your bank. The latter may result in fees for you on both ends to have the currency converted.

• Helpful Tip: Exchange rates change according to markets, so keep a close eye on the rate to try to guess when you’d most benefit to pay your tuition. At any point in time, you can use Google’s search engine to calculate currency exchange. Let’s say you want to know what one U.S. dollar would be in Australian dollars. Simply type in 1USD in AUD to find out.

After you’ve paid your first semester or year of tuition, which will also include payment for your first year of health cover, welcome to another waiting game. You’ll have lots of these fun games in your immigration process! Oh, and as a sidenote, don’t make the same mistake I did and send anything as important as your tuition payment around a holiday. Australians believe in taking holidays! My payment happened to be almost a week before Easter holiday, but it didn’t get seen until two or maybe even three weeks later. By then, we were already entering the month of May.

When your university has received your tuition payment, they will send you a Confirmation of Enrolment, or CoE via email and snail mail. Like your Letter of Offer, this puppy is going to help you get into the country. Don’t disregard it.

• Helpful Tip: Buy a 1-inch/2.5cm folder for your documentation. You’re only just starting your immigration process, and you will have many, many more papers and receipts to keep up with. Stay organized for your sanity.

Step #4: The REAL Immigration Process

While necessary for your visa, all of the above only had an inkling to do with your immigration process, and none of it actually has come in contact with the government yet. The next step is applying for your student visa, which means you need to know which visa option/class is right for your situation. For me, it was the visa for higher education.

Before going through your application, know that you will need the PDF files of your Letter of Offer and CoE to attach to your application toward the end. Also know what your “assessment level” is. Depending on what country you’re from, Australia rates its risk of letting you past its borders for temporary residence. Assessment levels are calculated according to your country’s recent health issues and more. For Americans, your assessment level will probably be 1, the lowest level possible.

Step #5: Your Required Medical Examination

If your assessment level is 1, you will need to have a chest X-ray and urine sample done. This will have to be carried out at one of the Australian government’s chosen panel doctor’s facilities; they know how to complete immigration documents for Australia. If you’re American, check out this page; if you’re from another country, start here.

The medical examination was one of the biggest pains for me, as the United States is huge, and we’re very spread out. The nearest panel doctor to me was four or five hours away by car; the second nearest was much farther away. In other words, nothing was close or convenient. There’s also the scheduling of your appointment to take into consideration, and in my case, I was sick for a week, so I had to put off and reschedule my examination by about four extra days.

When your examination is done, the documents and X-Ray will be sent to the Australian embassy in your country. From there, everything will be out of your hands. It is a complete waiting game from this moment forward.

In my case, there was an error with my examination documentation between the panel doctor and the government. The office person at the panel doctor I went to didn’t send some of my documents to the right location, and so by the time that was fixed and everything was resent it was really too late for me to get an e-visa for my student visa. Note: There are two types of applications for student visas–one in Australia and one outside of Australia. Because my paperwork was messed up, I had to reapply for my visa when in Australia. What this means is I paid for my visa twice.

And yes, it still makes me angry, but I can’t do anything about it!

Step #6: Your Plane Ticket to Oz

Get ready for your wallet to be raped! Your traveling to and from Australia to overseas locations is not going to be a cheap affair, unless you’re going somewhere close like New Zealand or Tasmania. Rates change depending on the day and hour you’re leaving, as well as what company you’re going through. Some travel agents may have good prices; some may not. You will have to test the waters, so look around as much as possible.

I DO NOT RECOMMEND FLYING WITH UNITED AIRLINES. When I visited Australia in January and February of this year, I took American Airlines to Los Angeles and switched to Qantas for my international flight to Melbourne. While having 20+ hours of flying is not great, it’s preferable to what my family and I did in our trip with United. You would think that United would be good, considering you’re staying with the same company, but it was a nightmare. Our flight with United went from Nashville to Denver, Colorado; from Denver to L.A.; from L.A. to Sydney; and from Sydney to Melbourne. After all of that, we had spent right at 30 hours or more in flight and on lay overs.

End of Part I

That concludes part I of my immigration to Australia as a student. Part II will cover my arrival and getting into an apartment. I sincerely hope that this entry helps some people accomplish immigration to Australia as a student. It was a very daunting thing to do all this, because there is nothing that takes you step-by-step through the process. Hopefully I’ve now done that.

Disclaimer: These are just my personal experiences and are, by no means, what you will encounter specifically. If you wish to take anything away from this entry, let it be the fact that the earlier you start on your immigration process, the better.

Comments ordered from oldest to newest.

Quasar9

I hope that wasn’t 40 days and 40 nights in the desrt.
Good to see you back

Ren

Good grief… I had no idea what was involved for students. Now at least I know what to tell a friend to look out for if she decides to do a course down here.

Lelia

Jon, thanks for the welcome back. :) And nooo, no desert around me. Just city life!

Ren, it’s much worse for those wanting to come on other visas, from what I hear. O_o But yes, do direct your friend to this page, and if she needs some help, feel free to send her my way and I’ll do what I can. :)

Tors

Hi Leila, this is a really great post…I might link it on my site, if that’s OK with you. :)

Just one thing…you said:
Unlike some countries, *cough* America *cough*, Australia is very strict when it comes to immigration.

Umm…have you ever dealt with US immigration? Trust me, Australia is a breeze in comparison. Of course, I am only talking about LEGAL immigration…LOL. ;)

Lelia

Tors, I’m glad you enjoyed this post, and certainly feel free to link to it. :) I’d be honored.

As for the immigration comment, that was in reference to illegal immigration, definitely. To do things legally in either country can be a pain, but that’s just it–everyone should have to do it legally, at least in my opinion.

Immigrating to Australia, Part II » LeliaThomas.Com

[...] This is the second part of my experience with immigrating to Australia on a student visa. If you’d like to go back and read the first part, click here. In this part, I discuss my arrival into Australia, as well as my experience with real estate here. [...]

Elizbaeth

I agree… American immigration is HORRIBLE in comparison… i just went down to translate my student visa into a student restricted work visa at the office near central station. Holy poop. i waited on line for a total of 10 minutes. That place is soooo organized and it was so easy and cheap, too!! it was more organized and took less time than my local DMV back home in the US… how it can take about 3 hours for a citizen to renew their driver’s lisence is beyond me. But anyway, very pleased with the aussie system!! :)

About tuition, $40,000 AUS PER YEAR for post grad medical school here. can you believe that s**t?

I am actually going to link this too if you don’t mind…

Lelia

Hi, Elizabaeth!

*laughs* Australia is very strict in regard to immigration and deportation, and I’m glad of that. America should be a bit better about it. Nothing wrong with people moving about legally, but there’s a whole world of problems when you don’t know who’s coming or going or what they’re doing.

I’m sure the tuition for postgrad medical is really high here. Of course, that’s why there are a lot of scholarships and programs, too, as far as I know. Have you tried getting any of them?

Pity we aren’t Norwegian (I’ve made several Norwegian friends). If they keep up good grades the low-interest loan they get for abroad education from the government is halved and made partly into a scholarship. If only we had that… :’(

Lelia

Also, feel free to link. :) I’d appreciate it!

Liz

Hi yeah i have a scholarhisp for 50% of my fees, but they only gave it to 4 out of 60 international students in my year. I feel bad for the other guys. it was based on entrance exam score (MCAT) and interview, which i did well on, i guess! :)

Alaska Cruises

I just love Australia. It’s places are very beautiful and indeed it is the only place on this earth where pollution hasn’t affected all their land and everything which involves that, including food and so on. I was there some years ago and I can’t wait to go another time.