Visa renewal
Renewing again and again?
In Australia, students who have been working part-time while studying, or those whose visa is about to expire but whose migration hasn’t come through yet, may have these questions:
I’ve already renewed my student visa a third time, or even a fourth — can I still renew it?
I’ve always studied a business major — what courses can I actually choose for my renewal now?
For students who have already used one or even several cheap courses to apply for a student visa, how do you reduce the GTE risk when renewing your student visa?
With these questions in mind, let me give you a very confident answer up front:Yes, you can!And let me introduce you to a killer trump-card course for working part-time while studying — the Graduate Diploma!
AQF
The Australian Qualifications Framework
Before we get to the Graduate Diploma, let’s first look at what the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) is. The AQF is the policy that sets out qualifications within Australia’s education and training system.The AQF began in 1995 and covers higher education, vocational education and training (VET), and schools (primary and secondary).The AQF is a policy agreed between Commonwealth, state (equivalent to provincial level) and territory (also equivalent to provincial level) ministers.
The AQF shows how students can progress step by step to higher qualifications within Australia’s education system.
Common AQF qualification levels:
Level 1 – Certificate I (equivalent to Year 9)
Level 2 – Certificate II (equivalent to Year 10)
Level 3 – Certificate III (equivalent to Year 11)
Level 4 – Certificate IV (equivalent to Year 12)
Level 5 – Diploma (equivalent to first-year university)
Level 6 – Advanced Diploma, Associate Degree (equivalent to second-year university)
Level 7 – Bachelor Degree (equivalent to third-year university)
Level 8 – Graduate Certificate, Graduate Diploma (equivalent to first-year postgraduate)
Level 9 – Masters Degree (equivalent to second-year postgraduate)
Level 10 – Doctoral Degree
As you can see, the Graduate Diploma is a Level 8 postgraduate qualification sitting between a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree (equivalent to first-year postgraduate).
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The Trump-Card Course
— Why It’s the Ace
Why is the Graduate Diploma the trump-card course for renewing your visa while working part-time and studying? Its advantages are crystal clear — read on below!
Advantage 1: Progressing from a lower-level course to a higher one means a higher grant rate
From the analysis above, we can see that the Graduate Diploma — a postgraduate qualification — usually sits between a Bachelor’s and a Master’s, similar to a Master’s pathway/preparatory course.Most students currently working part-time and studying in Australia are enrolled in courses below Advanced Diploma level.If you want to keep studying further in Australia, a Graduate Diploma course is one of your best options, and many Australian universities currently offer Graduate Diploma programmes.As a result, for students who have applied for a student visa multiple times, this greatly reduces the risk of having to step down to a lower-level course.
In addition, for students whose Subclass 485 visa is expiring, a GD course works just as well. Students whose 485 visa is expiring have all already graduated with a bachelor’s or postgraduate degree, and would typically be concerned about GTE risk, but the main purpose of the renewal is often simply the visa itself — they don’t want to keep paying expensive postgraduate course fees, so a GD course satisfies both the low-cost condition and the requirement for a higher-level course.
Advantage 2: Short duration, usually just one year
If you want to complete a postgraduate diploma and then return home, a Graduate Diploma course also suits you very well, because this course is usually only one year — you can graduate in a short time. Quite a few people who have already been working for a while have a real soft spot for this qualification, and people with work experience can use it to specifically fill the knowledge gaps they’ve found in their jobs. Take a GD course, and once you graduate you’ll receive a GD graduation certificate.
Advantage 3: Lower tuition fees and relatively lighter coursework
Overall, compared with the usual university tuition of $20,000–$30,000 a year, a Graduate Diploma is far cheaper than a bachelor’s or master’s degree, and during the pandemic, some schools even offered a one-year Graduate Diploma for as little as AU$6,000, and these GD courses are usually in business or management, which meets the course requirements for renewal for the vast majority of students (get in touch for details). Although some Graduate Diplomas do involve studying bachelor’s-level content, the difficulty level is lower than bachelor’s and postgraduate courses, and the workload is lighter too.
Advantage 4: A stepping stone that can exempt you from some university coursework
Successfully being awarded a Graduate Diploma can let you progress to a Master’s degree without having obtained Bachelor honours.
Well-known Go8 university UNSW (University of New South Wales) previously announced: it will now accept applications from students who have successfully completed 4 or more subjects at an Australian education institution. These subjects can be from a Graduate Certificate, a Graduate Diploma, or a Master’s course.
The specific requirements you need to meet:
To meet the entry requirement, students must achieve an average grade of at least 65% or higher across these 4 or more subjects. Students who meet the 65% or higher academic entry requirement will also be considered to have met our English requirement for the designated courses at UNSW.
In other words, as long as you’ve completed 4 Master’s, GD or GC subjects in Australia with an average of 65%+, no matter which school you graduated from (it doesn’t even need to be a university), you can enter UNSW (University of New South Wales) in second semester.
Advantage 5: 1 year of a Master’s + 1 year of GD can qualify you for a 2-year Subclass 485
After 19 September 2020, the legislation relating to the Subclass 485 visa was amended, and the Department of Home Affairs’ official website subsequently confirmed that a study combination of 1 year of Graduate Diploma + 1 year of Master’s can satisfy the qualification requirements for the PSW (Post-Study Work) visa. By the same logic, studying 1 year of Master’s first, then 1 year of GD, can also satisfy the application requirements!
For a more detailed explanation and confirmation, see:Confirmed on the Department of Home Affairs’ official website: 1 year of a Master’s + 1 year of a Graduate Diploma lets you apply for a 2-year Subclass 485 work visa!
In summary, the Graduate Diploma is the trump-card course for renewing your visa while working part-time and studying — it satisfies your qualification requirements and your visa requirements, offers excellent value for money, and gives you the flexibility to move on to further study or migration afterwards! Get in touch with me for a detailed plan tailored to you!
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