VisasAustralia's 2026 rulebook for language students, in plain language
Higher visa fees, a soft cap on new students and a new migration package made the headlines. For a twelve to twenty-four week English course, the rules are clearer than they sound. What applies to you and what does not.
By the Bid and Study teamAugust 20267 min read
Australia has spent two years rewriting the rules for international students, and the news cycle has not been kind: a soft cap of about 295,000 new students for 2026, a visa fee that has gone up twice, the ELICOS sector (English courses) hit harder than most in 2025, and in September 2026 a migration package that bars most new students from bringing family members and limits visa "hopping" to moving upwards.
If you are planning a language course of a few months, here is what those changes mean in practice, and what they do not.
Which visa you need
- Up to three months of study: the Visitor visa (subclass 600). Latin American passports are not eligible for Australia's electronic visitor authorisations, so this is an online application, AUD 200 from April 2026, usually processed in days to a few weeks.
- Longer than three months: the Student visa (subclass 500), which requires enrolment at a CRICOS-registered school, health cover (OSHC) and evidence of funds.
The Student visa is where the cost changed. From 1 July 2026 the standard application costs AUD 2,500, up from AUD 2,000 a year earlier and AUD 1,600 before that. The good news, and it is new: the government created a lower tier of AUD 2,050 for ELICOS and other non-award courses, after months of lobbying by the language school associations for a reduced fee for shorter stays. It is still a large sum, so build it into the budget from day one.
Money, work and health cover
- Funds: the living-costs figure used for student visas is AUD 29,710 a year, prorated for shorter stays, plus tuition and travel. A visitor is asked to show the means to support the trip, without a fixed figure.
- Work: student visa holders may work 48 hours a fortnight while the course is in session, and without limit during scheduled breaks. That rule survived the 2026 package. Visitor visa holders may not work.
- Health: Overseas Student Health Cover is compulsory for the whole length of a student visa, and most schools arrange it with the enrolment.
The changes that made the news, translated
- The soft cap. Australia dropped a formal legal cap on student numbers and manages arrivals through visa processing priorities instead. Providers that pass 115 per cent of their indicative allocation drop to a lower processing priority. For you this means one practical question to ask a school: is it inside its allocation for the year? Most language schools are, because commencements fell in 2025.
- No family members. From the September 2026 package, most new student visa applicants cannot bring dependants. A language student travelling alone, which is almost everyone, is unaffected.
- Upwards only. A student who wants to extend must move to a higher level of study, not sideways. English followed by a vocational or higher education course still works; a second English course after the first may not.
- Agent rules. The ESOS reforms of December 2025 and January 2026 tightened the rules on how schools pay agents, including a ban on paying for students who have already started with another provider. This protects you from being "poached" mid-course and rewards transparent advice.
What is working in your favour
Commencements in the English sector fell 15 per cent in 2025. That is bad news for schools and good news for a student comparing offers: seats are available in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Perth, and schools are competing on price and inclusions. The 2027 allocations were published in August 2026, which gives schools more certainty than they had last year. The Tuition Protection Service, written into law, remains the strongest student protection scheme in any English-speaking destination: if a school closes, you are placed elsewhere or your unspent tuition is refunded.
A plan that fits the rules
- Twelve weeks or less: visitor visa, AUD 200, no work, the simplest route and the cheapest on paper.
- Fourteen to twenty-four weeks with work: student visa at the ELICOS rate, OSHC, proof of funds, and 48 hours a fortnight of legal work at some of the highest minimum wages in the world.
- Longer plans: English first, then a diploma at a registered college, which is exactly the upward path the new rules want.
Australia is more expensive to enter than it was, and less forgiving of vague plans. For a student with a clear course and a clear budget, it is still one of the best-run destinations there is.
Sources
- StudyTravel Magazine, news of 14 November and 12 December 2025, 23 January, 10 March, 27 March, 12 May, 2 June, 18 August and 18 September 2026 (visa priority rules, ESOS reforms, visa fee income, ELICOS commencements, 2027 allocations, migration package).
- The PIE News, July 2026 (student visa fee rises, new ELICOS pricing tier).
- Australian Government, Study Australia and Department of Home Affairs visa pages, accessed September 2026.
- Australian Government, Tuition Protection Service, accessed September 2026.
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