Student visa (500) - Higher Education Sector

Check estimated processing times for the Australian Student visa (Subclass 500) - Higher Education Sector stream. Data sourced from Department of Home Affairs via Freedom of Information (FOI) request.

Estimated processing time

39 days

Median processing time

January 2026

25% processed within23 days

75% processed within4 months

90% processed within5 months

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Processing times vary significantly based on your country of citizenship and location. Get a personalised estimate for your specific situation.

Free - based on FOI data from Department of Home Affairs

About Student visa processing times

About this data

The processing times shown above are monthly averages for the Student visa, aggregated across all applicants regardless of citizenship or application location. Actual processing times vary significantly based on these factors.

Data source

This data is derived from a dataset provided by the Department of Home Affairs in response to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request (Reference: DA25/10/00449), covering approximately 4.5 million visa grants from July 2024 to September 2025.

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 aggregated averages. Processing times vary significantly based on your citizenship and whether you apply from inside or outside Australia. Our Visa Time Checker provides personalised estimates based on your specific situation, which may differ from these aggregated figures.

Check other visa types

Want to check processing times for a different visa type or stream? Use our visa processing time checker to see estimates for any Australian visa subclass.

Want to learn more?

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