Genuine Temporary Entrant (GTE) Requirement to Genuine Student (GS) Requirement
From the 23rd of March 2024, the Genuine Temporary Entrant criteria under the student (subclass 500) visa will be replaced with a genuine student requirement.
Student visa applications made on or after 23 March 2024 will be assessed based on whether the visa applicant is a “genuine student”, rather than whether the applicant intends to “genuinely stay in Australia temporarily”.
This means student visa applicants who fail to show genuine intention to study in Australia may face refusals of their student visa applications lodged on or after the commencement of this amendment.
Increase in English Language Requirement for Student (subclass 500) and Temporary Graduate (subclass 485) visas
The Department has also announced increased English language requirements for Student (subclass 500) and Temporary Graduate (subclass 485) visas.
For Student visas:
- The minimum English language proficiency score for IELTS rises from 5.5 to 6.0,
- For English Language Intensive Course for Overseas Students (ELICOS) courses, minimum IELTS rises from 4.5 to 5.0.
- However, students enrolled in recognised university foundation or pathway programs will still require IELTS 5.5.
- No changes apply to students solely studying through ELICOS.
For Temporary Graduates visas:
- Temporary Graduate visa applicants now need a higher score of IELTS 6.5, with a minimum of 5.5 in each component. The test validity window also shortens from three years to one year.
- Exemptions exist for passport holders from Hong Kong and British National Overseas (BNO) who maintain the previous requirements of IELTS 6.0 with a minimum of 5.0 for each component.
- While these changes were set to commence on March 23, 2024, no legislative instruments have been released yet, prompting members to monitor the Federal Register of Legislation for updates.
