Stuart Edwards Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Hi all! I'd been tearing my hair out trying to find answers to my conundrum! I hope there's someone out there that can help! Right - My girlfriend and I are both Brits on 417 WHV. We're both working full-time and would love to carry on our lives here in this beautiful country! Our visas expire in August and we're heading back to the UK for a visit. I'd like to come back on a student visa, preferably part-time and carry on working where I am now for 20hrs per week. - Are international student courses/visas hard to to land and set up? Are there reputable courses that don't cost the earth?! - If I was on a student visa, could my girlfriend apply for partner defacto visa? - Could she study full-time if she was on a defacto visa? But not pay international student fees? It would be great to hear some stories of people who have had similar experiences! We're both skilled and committed, but our background/experience is lacking so skilled migrant/sponsorship visas opportunities are limited... Cheers everyone! Stu & Eloise x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
engaus Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Your partner can't get a partner defacto visa because only people who are with Australian PR or Citizens can get those and you are not. She would go over as a dependent on your visa. But if she wants to study for more than 3 months she will need to obtain a student visa in her own right. You will also need to study full time. You cannot study part time. You will both be charged international student fees if you want to study - there is no way to get out of that unless you are a PR. Have a read of this page. http://www.immi.gov.au/About/Pages/media/fact-sheets/fact-sheet-50.aspx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VERYSTORMY Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Your girlfriend may be able to come with you, but she would also be limited to 20 hours per week work. There re are no cheap courses. Very few courses have any path to stay beyond the course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Edwards Posted February 17, 2015 Author Share Posted February 17, 2015 Thanks for your reply guys! Do you know what visa would my girlfriend be on if I was on the student visa? VeryStormy - Have you been on a student visa or studied? It would be good to hear a bit of insight into it all Regarding the courses, I realise they are fulltime, but several people I know have only had to attend 1-2 days a week. Any thoughts on this? Thank you very much everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blossom Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 Thanks for your reply guys! Do you know what visa would my girlfriend be on if I was on the student visa? VeryStormy - Have you been on a student visa or studied? It would be good to hear a bit of insight into it all Regarding the courses, I realise they are fulltime, but several people I know have only had to attend 1-2 days a week. Any thoughts on this? Thank you very much everyone! I came on a student visa. My husband was included on my application. So he didn't study, but couldn't work for more than 20 hours a week. My course was considered full time. So this was three days a week, plus course work etc. If they are advertised as full time, then that's what you need for immigration. You also have to be careful, as some courses will let you use recognition of prior learning to skip certain parts. For my course at least, if you did this it meant you didn't have enough class hours for immigration to be happy, so you ended up having to study it anyway. Some people don't realise this and come unstuck later. If you are only having to do one day a week for a full time course there is something wrong. Dont expect your course to lead to PR. If you are happy with the costs, lack of your partner being able to work full time (except for masters degrees etc), and knowing that you are most likely to have to leave at the end of your course, then go for it. Otherwise, find another way to try to stay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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