Before you apply for a student visa in Australia

I have been in Sydney for 2 years, and I am going to give you a bit of reality before you consider applying for a student visa in Australia. If you jump to the conclusion without reading it fully, you will miss out on important parts. Please bear with me.

Finance

Money speaks everywhere. Your budget should not only be for one semester, and I hope that you can carry it out for the rest of the semester. No.

If I could go back in time, I would reconsider, because there are points you need to ask yourself:

Can I survive the living expense?

Do I have emergency funds?

How likely am I going to get a job to make living?

Will I keep struggling all my student life with tuition fees and stuffs?

I want you to consider this:

Before you think about studying here, you need to have at least tuition fees for the whole course you are going to study and separate funds for your living expenses and another separate fund for emergency funds.

If you think you can pay for one semester fee, are you hoping to earn in Sydney and pay for it?

Wrong, its a wrong decision. Take my advice and prepare for it.

Don't get me wrong; I am not telling you to get the funds and not do the job, no way.

Even if you have the funds for the whole course, you still need to keep applying for jobs to make a living even if you have funds for it, as well as preparing for tuition fees on your own.

Doing so will help you not to worry about tuition fees and remain on visa regulation on working hours (24 hours a week max), which can be tempting if you do not have that amount with you.

Sydney is not a place to study and sleep; its a place to thrive for success. And remember this: only one successful degree cannot guarantee you the job.

I have seen people with degrees still working as kitchenhands. So be prepared for this. There are ups and downs in life, either in your home country or Australia.

Always follow the rules given to you in Visa regulations; never mess it up.

More you thrive to make funds for living and tuition fees by yourself; its a little success you can achieve; if you can't, you can pay the tuition fees from your funds earlier than you prepared.

Doing that, you can use your personal fund minus education funds to make some savings.

For example, your tuition fee is 10K; you earned 2K, so you take 8K from the education fund that has the whole course fee, which means you are saving 2K of your education fund.

That way, you can continue studying and thriving; there is no mental pressure of not being able to pay the fees.

Trust me, its depressing when you can't. It may hamper your mind away from studies as well.

Academic

Remember, not all degrees or qualifications can be worth it for your career growth, regardless of the amount of tuition fees.

A qualification with lower fees may not help you in the future unless its a career related to human services like aged care, childcare, or construction. If your career choice is technical jobs like IT or healthcare that need intense skills, cheap fees will be a waste of time and money.

Make sure the qualification is recognized internationally, which can give you an upper hand in thriving through.

Australian teaching style is quite different from your country since it consists of critical thinking and questioning style. I will guide you in other blogs focusing on studies.

Another thing about education is adapting to English in speaking and listening.

Anyone can write English, but communicating is a different story. Make sure you are confident in English before considering studying here.

Not doing so will hamper your understanding and collaborating with the lecturers in a big time.

Visa Regulations

People may tell you to not follow the rules and keep doing what you gotta do. My answer is to ignore them and follow the rules. If you get into trouble breaking the rules, those people will not help; you will be the one in trouble, not them for misguiding you.

Whether you plan to stay in Sydney or not, rules in Sydney are very important and easy to get caught. Some people don't get caught, but there is no promise that you won't get caught.

You will have 24 hours per week working rights and stick to it. Just keep working 24 hours per week to support your expenses and save it wisely; spend it carefully.

Ignore cash jobs; those are illegal and can scam you happily, and you cannot even report it to the police since doing a cash job is illegal itself.

Cultural Lifestyle

Common things in Australia are clubbing, nightlife, drinking alcohol, and some foods that may not match your diet and lifestyle. If you are from a specific religion that does not allow you to eat a specific diet, it can be hard for you to look for your diet.

So, you have to be prepared for the cultural shock in Sydney. Never be forced to blend in with culture; that won't reward you anything but change you into a person you do not want to be.

Jobs

Its a competitive environment to find a job, and it will not be simple to get a job without experience in Sydney. Reconsider about this. Its a common mistake for international students to expect to get hired within a week.

Keep in mind that you may face unemployment for a month while applying for jobs continuously; have a backup plan. Most jobs are occupied with experienced expats or people of this country.

Significant jobs ask for full working rights, which permanent residents and citizens have. At last, remember, no job is inferior as long as it makes you happy to work with decent pay.

Accommodation

Consider the place if its safe to stay, what type of people live there, and what kind of landlord it is. It is important.

If your class is 5 days a week, consider renting near the university suburb to save on transportation expenses.

Healthcare

Consider health insurance costs and policies. I use Medibank, which covers almost everything, which may save a lot of money from you if something happens, God forbid.

Climate

You can expect extreme weather, especially during winter. Don't be disappointed after coming to Australia because, as I am already telling you, you can expect extreme hot weather and a cold, windy winter.

Keep in mind and consider. Weather can change suddenly; that's another thing you can think of.

Even the weather forecast can be misleading sometimes.

Legal and Social Norms

Learn about the Australian laws on working rights, taxes, and rights thoroughly. There are quite different rules in Sydney compared to your home country (Mostly) and the rules may change drastically every financial year (May-July of 20XX)

So these are the considerations you need to keep in mind. If its all good, you may read my blog, "Student Visa Subclass 500.".