People who move to Australia often grow so fond of the country that they decide to stay as long as possible. This is why many of our clients who arrive on a Student visa or Work and Holiday visa choose to prolong their stay by applying for an onshore visa extension.

The most frequent and convenient choice for a new visa is a Student visa, however other, more complex visas are also attainable, such as employer sponsored or skilled visas, or partner visa. These later options are quite complex, and please visit the relevant pages or contact us for additional information if you believe any of these are an option for you.

For those opting for a Student visa, much like the initial student visa application, the extension process also comes with numerous requirements, which can be complex to navigate. To get started, please visit our Student Visa and Education FAQ pages, as many of the initial requirements remain the same throughout the extension process as well. If you want to learn more about your options and the conditions of an onshore student visa application, we have compiled the most important information for you below.

Student visa extensions are typically needed when a student has completed their previous course and their visa is about to expire, but they wish to remain in Australia to continue their studies. In such cases, they can enrol in another course or program and will need to apply for a student visa once again. Another common scenario is when the student is unable to complete their course within the original timeframe or before their original visa expires, so they will need to apply for an extension in order to be able to finish their studies.

When the new visa application is submitted but the original visa is still in effect at the time, a so-called “bridging” visa comes into effect. This bridging visa allows applicants to remain in Australia under the same conditions as their original visa until the new one is granted, even if the original happens to expire in the meantime.

You can renew your student visa multiple times, but it’s important to note that for the second onshore visa extension (i.e., the third visa application), the Australian government charges an additional fee of 700 AUD/person on top of the regular visa fees for the main applicant and any accompanying family members. Therefore, if at the time of the very first application the student is already certain that they will want to study in Australia for a longer period, we recommend applying for a long-term visa in order to avoid multiple extensions and associated fees later on. This can be done by enrolling in a multi-year course, or by signing up for multiple consecutive short-term courses as part of a package program. Either approach can ensure obtaining a visa for several years, reducing the need for future extensions.

If you are currently in Australia but you are not a student visa holder, and you would like to change that by switching to a student visa, this may also be possible but your options depend on your current visa type.

For more information about your first student visa or extending your current visa, feel free to contact us for further assistance!