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Student visa (500) - Schools Sector

Check estimated processing times for the Australian Student visa (Subclass 500) - Schools Sector. Based on data from 4.5 million visa decisions obtained from the Department of Home Affairs via FOI.

Your estimated processing time

28 days

Typical processing time
October 2026
25% decided within11 days
75% decided within57 days
90% decided within7 months

Student visa processing times by nationality

How long the Student visa takes can vary depending on your passport, based on real decided applications: choose a nationality below for the full breakdown.
NationalityOutside AustraliaIn Australia
Brazil12 days–
Cambodia12 days4 months
Japan15 days4 months
Germany16 days5 months
Italy17 days–
France20 days–
Taiwan, Province of China21 days5 months
India28 days6 months
People's Republic of China29 days5 months
Hong Kong30 days–
Vietnam32 days3 months
South Korea46 days4 months
Medians only: half of applications were decided faster, half slower. A dash means too few decisions from that location for a reliable figure.

Get your personalised estimate

Processing times vary significantly based on your citizenship and location. Find out what the wait really looks like for someone like you.Free. Based on FOI data from 4.5 million visa decisions.

About Student visa processing times

About this data

The times shown above are monthly averages for the Student visa, aggregated across all applicants. Your actual processing time may differ significantly based on your citizenship and where you apply from.

Where this data comes from

This data is derived from approximately 4.5 million visa grants obtained from the Department of Home Affairs via Freedom of Information request (Reference: DA25/10/00449), covering July 2024 to September 2025. View the released document.

Methodology

Processing times shown are monthly averages for this visa subclass and stream, aggregated across all countries and application locations.Times are presented as percentiles (25th, 50th, 75th, 90th) showing what proportion of applicants received decisions within each timeframe.Data is updated monthly when new information becomes available from the Department of Home Affairs.

Get a personalised estimate

The figures above are averages across everyone. Your citizenship and location can make a big difference. Our Visa Time Checker gives you a personalised estimate based on your specific situation, not just these aggregated figures.

Check other visa types

Looking for a different visa? Use our visa processing time checker to see estimates for any Australian visa type.

Want to understand this better?

Read our guide explaining how processing times work, what affects them, and how to interpret these estimates: Australian visa processing times guide