Student visa (500) - Defence or DFAT sponsored student

Check estimated processing times for the Australian Student visa (Subclass 500) - Defence or DFAT sponsored student stream. Based on data from 4.5 million visa decisions obtained from the Department of Home Affairs via FOI.

Your estimated processing time

10 days

Typical processing time

March 2026

25% decided within4 days

75% decided within20 days

90% decided within31 days

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.

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