Should I Cancel My Student Visa?

Before you decide to cancel your Student Visa, you might wish to take a few minutes to read through this post.

Applying for a different visa while on Student Visa

Students may choose to apply for another visas whilst still on a student visa in Australia.

Students may want to cancel their current student visa so that they can receive the full work rights associated with the new Bridging Visa, or they may just want to stop studying the course and stop paying the tuition fees.

However student should be careful about cancelling their current student visa.

Popular Visas

Some of the most popular visas to apply for include

Partner Visa

The partner visa allows partners to work, live and study in Australia. There are also numerous other perks that the visa holder is eligible for such as receiving access to Medicare.

Employer Sponsored Visa

The Employer Nominated Scheme (ENS) – Subclass 186 visa is a permanent employer sponsored visa. The ENS visa allows employees to work for a nominated employer on a full time basis.

General Skilled Migration Visas

The Skilled Migration Program that allows foreigners who are qualified or experienced in a required profession to migrate to Australia. General Skilled Migration is the most popular form of migration to Australia.

Frequently Asked Questions

In case you don’t find an answer to your question, feel free to consult with one of our agents.

What type of Bridging Visa will I be granted?
Generally speaking if you have remained compliant with all the rules of your previous student visa, you will be granted a Bridging Visa A when you apply for a new substantive visa. This Bridging Visa will only come into effect you’re your current student visa expires or when the new visa is granted. If you are enrolled for a course that goes for a long time, and if you apply for a visa that takes a long time to process (the current processing time for a partner visa is around 12 months), then you may want to stop studying and obtain the full visa work rights so you can save money. Partner visa fees are incredibly high – currently costing $6865 for a 820/801 subclass visa as per the Immi website on Jun 16th 2015.
What happens when I cancel my student visa?
If you decide to voluntarily cancel your student visa, you can apply to do this. However when you do this, the Bridging Visa that is associated with your new visa application is also cancelled. As a result of this, you will now become an UNLAWFUL NON CITIZEN. As you don’t want to be an Unlawful Non citizen, you will need to apply to Immigration for a visa that allows you to remain in Australia legally. Generally speaking the Bridging Visa E is the only visa that you can apply for that will allow you to legally remain in Australia.

A Bridging Visa E is one of the worst bridging visas that you can be on. On the Bridging Visa E you generally cannot work and cannot study. To be eligible to work on a Bridging Visa E you are required to put in an application to the Department of Home Affairs for work rights and have compelling evidence demonstrating your need to work. You will need to show you will be under financial hardship if you can’t work. On the Bridging Visa E, you can also not apply for a Bridging Visa B to leave Australia and return to Australia. So if you leave Australia, you cannot get back in. So no matter what happens in your home country (family death, emergency etc..), you may not be able to come back to Australia if you leave.

So what is the big deal about getting a Bridging Visa E?
A huge problem is that you don’t know how long you could be on the Bridging Visa E. If you are applying for a partner visa, or another permanent visa, you could be on the Bridging Visa E for for months or years. And what happens if you are not granted the work rights? You will be stuck in Australia, and not only not be allowed to work, you also can’t leave and return.

In some cases it may be worth going through the process, however before you do, seriously consider your situation and ask yourself is it really worth it?

Get in touch

In case of questions, feel free to reach out to one of our experienced Registered Education and Migration Agents.

GET IN TOUCH

In case of questions, feel free to reach out to one of our experienced Registered Migration Agents.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Contact details

Give us a call

Australia: 0755 265 900
Argentina: (11) 7368 - 8134
Fiji: (679) 922 3842
Philippines: 63 968 363 5296
United Kingdom: 02039 483 865

Send an email

info@pathwaytoaus.com

Gold Coast Office

2242 Gold Coast Highway,
Mermaid Beach, QLD, 4218

UK Office

5 Merchant Square
London, W2 1AY, United Kingdom
(By Appointment Only)

Should I Cancel My Student Visa? was last modified: January 20th, 2023 by Nick Yock