Advice for inbound students to assist with your visa application and entry to Australia:
- All tong-term and short-term inbound students will require a Subclass 500 student visa. You can find out more about the visa and the documents you will require here. Note that waiting times for the visa once submitted can be up to three months (as at April 2024 most visas are being processed in one month).
- You do not need a CoE (Certificate of Enrolment) as a youth exchange student. You will instead be provided with an AASES Acceptance form. This is the document you will require to prove you have been accepted into a school for your exchange. You cannot apply for your visa without the AASES Acceptance Form. On the first page of your visa application you will be asked to nominate that you have an AASES form, not a CoE, as below (nominated your own commencement date once you have agreed your flight details with us).
- Secondary high school exchange students are exempt from the visa fee as long as you upload an AASES request rather than a CoE. If you are asked to nominate a visa category, select ‘Secondar exchange (schools sector). If you get to the end of the visa application and it is showing a fee owing, you have selected the wrong category, or you have marked ‘yes’ to supplying a CoE.
- We will apply for an AASES Acceptance form on your behalf. You cannot submit your visa application without this. There will be several documents we require in order to request the AASES on your behalf. If at any time we request documents from you, please action these promptly.
- Once we send you your approved AASES Acceptance form from the Queensland or NSW Department of Education you should submit your visa application promptly.
- All students who will be under 18 at the time of travel will be required to submit a Parental Consent Form 1229 as part of their visa application. You can download a copy of the form here.
- In addition to your travel insurance, all inbound students are also required to take out Australian OSHC (Overseas Student Health Cover) Insurance for the duration of their stay. You will need to supply evidence of this as part of your visa application. Simply do a google search for ‘Overseas Student Health Cover’ to find a provider – there are many to choose from! As an example, here is the OSHC offered by one provider, BUPA.
- Note that there are a small number of countries who are exempt from requiring OSHC insurance as Australia has a reciprocal health care arrangement with them. These countries include Belgium, Finland, Italy, Malta, The Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Ireland, Slovenia, Sweden and the UK. You can read more here about these countries and whether an exemption might apply to you.
- We will also send you a official welcome emails from our database that includes the contact details of your host club Youth Exchange Officer (YEO) and Counsellor, your first host family and your Country Coordinator from the D9640 YEP Committee.
Resources for inbound students to read prior to your arrival in Australia:
- D9640 Inbound Student Handbook. This handbook covers (nearly!) everything you need to know about being an Inbound Rotary Youth Exchange Student to D9640 in Australia. Make sure you read it before you arrive. Click on the image below to download.
- D9640 Inbound Student Travel Policy: all inbound students must abide by our inbound student travel policy. This includes details for approvals for overnight stays with Rotarians and school friends. Please make sure you and your host family are familiar with this policy. You can view and download the policy here.
- D9640 Inbound Student Travel Permission Form: in some instances you will be required to submit a Travel Approval Form to get permission to travel. This process is to be managed by you, not your host family or counsellor. You can download the form here.
