Pictures

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bailliesasa/

see here for pics, I have to update the ones of UQ shortly xo

Visa Grant Notification Copy – for Interest

This is the notification they sent me through once I received  my visa. It basically has all of the terms and conditions on it. VEVO is also a really useful webpage, and there is a link below for that. VEVO just repeats all of this in a more concise manner but it is good to know you have a copy of this available. Your letter will also have a Transaction Reference Number (TRN), hold on to this because you need it to access VEVO. And once you have received this… yaldi! Your going to Australia!!

PASSPORT

Your visa is linked to the passport number that you provided in your application. If you obtain a new passport after receiving this letter, you will need to provide a certified copy of your passport to the Department to enable us to update your visa details. Please scan the certified copy and email it to the Helpdesk at eVisa.Students.Helpdesk@immi.gov.au to advise the Department of your new passport details.

Please note: If you do not provide us with the details of any new passport issued to you, you may experience significant delays at the airport and may be denied permission to board your plane.

VISA INFORMATION

Your visa expires on 27 August 2009 and provides you with multiple entry to Australia. This means that you can leave Australia and re-enter Australia as many times as you wish, while your visa is valid.

You should carefully note the expiry date of your visa. You may only stay in Australia until this date. Any further stay in Australia must be authorised by the grant of a further visa.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR STUDENTS FROM THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
You must check the following website for important information regarding your visa label. Please go to www.immi.gov.au/students/index.htm for more information.

INFORMATION FOR OTHER STUDENTS

You do not need a visa label in your passport to travel to, or enter Australia. You can use our Visa Entitlement Verification Online (VEVO) system to check your visa details and conditions. Access information about your visa at www.immi.gov.au/students/index.htm. Your Transaction Reference Number is very important as it allows you to your access information on VEVO. It is also recommended that you print and keep a copy of this letter for your personal records.

VISA CONDITIONS

Your visa for study in Australia has been approved subject to a number of conditions. It is very important that you understand and abide by your visa conditions. If you fail to abide by these conditions, your visa may be cancelled and you will be required to leave Australia.

If you do not understand your visa conditions, please contact the nearest Australian Government office overseas for advice before you travel (www.immi.gov.au/contacts).

After arrival in Australia, you may seek advice on your visa conditions from the nearest Department of Immigration and Citizenship office (www.immi.gov.au/contacts) or by telephoning 131 881.

An explanation of the conditions attached to your visa is as follows.

Condition – 8105

(1) Subject to subclauses (2) and (3), the holder must not engage in work in Australia for more than 20 hours a week during any week when the holder’s course of study or training is in session.

(2) Subclause (1) does not apply to work that was specified as a requirement of the course when the course particulars were entered in the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students.

(3) The holder must not engage in work before the course for which the initial student visa was granted commences.

Condition – 8202

If the visa holder is the holder of a subclass 576 (AusAID or Defence sector) visa, they must be enrolled in a full-time course of study or training.

If the visa holder is not the holder of a subclass 576 (AusAID or Defence sector) visa, they must:

- remain enrolled in a registered course (unless they are a secondary exchange student who holds a subclass 571 (Schools sector) visa, in which case they must be enrolled in a full-time course of study or training);

- achieve satisfactory course progress as determined by their education provider;

- achieve satisfactory attendance as determined by their education provider.

Note: A registered course is one that is one the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students (CRICOS). Go to http://cricos.dest.gov.au for a list of registered courses and education providers.

Condition – 8501

The visa holder must maintain adequate arrangements for health insurance during their stay in Australia.

Condition – 8516

The visa holder must continue to satisfy the criteria for grant of their visa.

Condition – 8517

The visa holder must maintain adequate schooling arrangements for their school-age dependants who join them in Australia on a student dependant visa for more than 3 months.

Condition – 8532

If the visa holder:

1) has not turned 18; AND
2) is not an AusAID student or a Defence student; AND
3) is not staying in Australia with:
a) a parent;
b) a person who has custody of them; or
c) a relative who has been nominated by their parent or a person who has custody of them, is aged at least 21 and is of good character;

they must maintain accommodation, support and general welfare arrangements that have been approved by their education provider.

Where accommodation, support and general welfare is being provided by the education provider, the holder must not enter Australia before the welfare arrangements are due to commence.

Note: The visa holder must not change those arrangements without the written approval of their education provider.

Condition – 8533

The visa holder must notify their education provider of their residential address in Australia within 7 days of arriving in Australia.

The visa holder must notify their education provider of any change in their residential address within 7 days of the change.

The visa holder must notify their current education provider of a change of education provider within 7 days of receiving the electronic Confirmation of Enrolment certificate or evidence of enrolment from their new education provider.

CHECKING YOUR VISA DETAILS
You can now check your visa details through accessing Visa Entitlement Verification Online (VEVO) at www.immi.gov.au/students/index.htm and clicking on the VEVO link. VEVO allows certain third parties to check your visa information with your consent.
Through VEVO, you can give your consent to registered third parties such as:
- employers and labour suppliers, to help check whether your visa allows you to work in Australia;
- government agencies, such as the Australian Taxation Office, Medicare and Centrelink, to help assess your eligibility for services;
- licensing authorities, to help establish your eligibility for a licence;
- educational institutions, to assess whether you can study in Australia; and
- financial Institutions, to assess your eligibility for finance.
Registered Australian organisations can register for VEVO at www.immi.gov.au/evo. Alternatively they can call the Employers’ Immigration Hotline on 1800 040 070 to request a form if they wish to use this service and don’t have internet access. VEVO is the easiest and fastest way to check a visa holders visa entitlements.

The disclosure of your visa information by the Department is governed by the Privacy Act 1988. Therefore, unless permitted by form 157A Application for a Student Visa the Department will disclose information about your visa to a third party only with your consent. You can consent to an inquiry about your visa entitlements by giving the third party your name, date of birth, passport number and passport country of issue. If you do not wish a third party to find out about your visa entitlements, do not give them this information.
The information form 993i ‘Safeguarding your personal information’, available from Immigration offices and can be downloaded from our website at www.immi.gov.au/allforms/pdf/993i.pdf. This form gives details of third parties to which you can consent to your personal information being disclosed, and how you can consent.
The Education Services for Overseas Student Act 2000 (the ESOS Act) provides important safeguards for overseas students in Australia. The ESOS Act regulates the activities of education providers who deliver education and training to international students by setting standards and providing for tuition and financial assurance. For more information on your rights under the ESOS Act, please see: www.aei.dest.gov.au/AEI/ESOS/Default.htm.
If you choose to work part time while studying in Australia, you are entitled to the same work rights as Australian permanent residents and citizens. For more information and advice about conditions of employment in Australia you can visit the following website www.wo.gov.au or phone the workplace infoline on 1300 363 264.

I hope you enjoy studying in Australia.

17/09 Visas and Immigration

Howdy.

Visas pretty stright forward, the main thing is to do them at least 2 months before going so that it comes through on time. A friend went to Australia and her student visa hadn’t come in by the time she had left. To get into Australia normally you need a visitors visa, so she had to get one of those – which then cancelled the other student visa she had ordered. She ended up spending alot of money and turns out her visa arrived at her house the day after she left.

1. Go here http://www.immi.gov.au/students/index.htm
2. then go under visa options which is the first link, the higher education section, enter your country and read all of the information.
3. The visa is really great because you can do it all online and save it and go back to it whenever you like. All of my paperwork came through online also, and then I just printed it out and took it to the airport with me.
4. I found the process really easy, it looks official (and it is) but just be honest with your answers and read everything thoroughly. One of the questions asked something like “do I plan to see a dentist or medical person while in Australia”. I think I answered no to this as they meant did I plan to treat a pre-existing condition once I arrived in the country. Declare all medication also. I am on prescription pills and once I declared them they sent me some emails asking me why I was on them etc. I was just honest and gave them all the information they might have needed. Just tell them anything you think might be useful to them. There is usually not an interview for Australian immigration, however they told me that I may have to go for a medical examination, so the more information you give them, the less likely they will need for you to be examined, I managed to dodge that little expense
5. The visa is AU$450 just now, this may go up by the time you guys are applying. But good news that you don’t have to pay the AU$60 for your permission to work once you enter the country!
6. If you are bringing family with you and have dependants there is loads of information here http://www.immi.gov.au/students/students/573-1/eligibility-family.htm .

17/09/2008

Flights

1. book them asap, Linda mentioned at one of our meetings that alot of people book them before they even know their place has been confirmed, but most of the time that only depends on their exam results. Especially for Australia, I paid £1200 roughly with Emirates, which had I not looked around on the web a week earlier would have been £950.
2. Look for places that will change the flight date for free. You will find if you are going and staying for the whole year without returning home that you will only be able to bok mabye March at the lastest. Airlines like Emirates will change your flight forward for free which means more money in your pocket – always a bonus.#
3. Arrrrrgh so baggage nowadays is generally really low, but I only got 20kgs for a 23 hour flight, and 7kgs in my hand baggage. You will find (unless you travel super light) that books and shoes :S will not all fit into that weight limit. I had to get my stuff shipped over and went with Intercargo which I would not do again! I will speak more about that later in my blog.
4. Make sure you know what is happeneing at the airports and how long you have to sit around. Emirates got a room for me in a hotel because I was there for 8 hours, which is one of their policies but I think they are changing it really soon. You can request a room with some airlines and they will give you it free of charge, I have heard it is quite common. This experience (and I have only been here 2 months) has given me heaps of independence so IF YOU DON’T ASK YOU DON’T GET!

28/05/08 – 2 Months to go!!

Howdy everyone!

I’m Lynne, in my first year at the University of Glasgow and going for my second year in the Unversity of Queensland, Australia in less than 6 weeks. Totally terrified and keep having all these wacky dreams but I think the experience will be awesome!

All the visa is sorted, accomodation almost there, I just have to figure out how to do a foreign money transfer, flights paid (whoa what a fortune) and just planning in my head what I am going to take with me. Having a wee look online for bikes on ebay near where I am staying, and for mobile phones available in the area aswell.

Can’t say I have sorted work out there yet but I have noticed a Nine West shoe store in Indooroopilly shopping mall not too far from where I stay. Haha I have a little shoe addiction.

Anyway, I think over the next few weeks before I go I will have a look at 1.visas 2.accomodation and 3.courses. I have spoke to one of the Glasgow University students who is over there this year before I have went and found that immensely heplful to just letting me know what I was doing. Little pathetic questions I had I could just ask Mhairi, as I felt much more relaxed speaking to her rather than sending an insignifigant question to someone in the university. So I can take some of the information she gave me and pass on my thoughts on that too. Which hopefully should be useful for anyone going next year.

Well, I think that’s me for just now, See ya!