Submitted Requirements

These are the list of requirements I prepared before lodging my visa application under VET or Vocational Education Training Sector.

1. Passport
2. Resume
3. Birth certificate from NSO
4. Copy of my BIR ID since my PRC ID was already due
5. NBI
6. Transcript of Records from my university
7. IELTS card result
8. Board rating from PRC
9. Diploma from my university
10. Letter of offer from the school where I am enrolled in Australia
11. Certificate of enrollment from the school where I am enrolled
12. Certificate of employment
13. Bank statement and bank certificates
14. Form 157A
15. My affidavit notarized by notary public
16. 2 copies of passport size picture with name written at the back
17. Manager's check amounting to 535 AUD or Php 23, 100 payable to Australian embassy
18. Courier fee amounting to Php 700.00

I lodged my application at VIA centre in Makati before the embassy changed their service partner to VFS global where I submitted my additional documents. I did not pay anything there.

I did not have any migration agent because I think the service will cost me a lot. I did some research and want to share it here. I hope the following information will help others who are also planning for studies in Australia.

Pre-visa assessment will be assessed by DIAC on the following criteria
Student Visa Requirements (Check the link)

1. Genuine Temporary Entrant/Genuine student
2. Enrolled in a registered course in a registered school in Australia
3. Financial Requirements
4. English proficiency
5. Health requirement
6. Character requirement
7. Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC)

OSHC must be included when the school where you enrolled in Australia give you your Letter of Offer. Once you paid your tuition fee as stated on the letter of offer, the school will confirm it by sending you a Certificate of Enrollment.

Once you lodge you student visa application, the embassy will acknowledge you application when they receive it through email and will also require you for medical check up to their approved centre partner which is St. Luke's Medical Center Extension if you are in Manila. Please check the link for more information.

Medical check up result will be forwarded by the clinic to a registered clinic (I don't know the name) in Australia. It will usually take a week before the embassy receives the result from Australia. If there are no more problems with regards to your health, the case officer from the embassy will review all your papers submitted to them. Otherwise, they will require you for additional tests.

Medical fees depend on your check up. If you will be required to undergo blood test for HIV and other diseases, you will pay an additional fee aside from what you paid earlier. My friend who is enrolled in Aged Care paid around Php 8,000.00 pesos.

If the case officer reviewed your documents and wanted more additional documents from you, he will notify you via phone call or email and will give you enough time to accomplish it.

He can also call you for an interview about the documents you submitted and will ask you other questions which might be relevant to your application.

Processing time takes 3 months according to their website since Philippines under this sector is assessed as Lever 3. However, most of the people I knew who applied for different courses in Australian VET schools had their visa result within a month or less than 2 months. I think this depends on the case officer and the documents submitted. The case officers are very particular on the evidence of funds presented to them.

If you have a sponsor who is an Australian citizen who lives in Australia, this sponsor must be related to you. You need to have a sponsorship letter signed by him and notarized by a registered notary lawyer in his place in Australia. It must be stated in the letter the amount he will be allocating for your studies. He needs to show his bank statement accounts and declare his source of income. Also, he needs to make an affidavit confirming his relationship to you.

Relatives and friends are not accepted as sponsors for your studies. Only you (applicant) parents, grandparents, brother/s, sister/s and spouse are allowed.

If your parents/grandparents/brother/sister/spouse are sponsoring you, they must provide a bank certificate and statement of account with the amount held at least 3 to 6 months before lodging your application. Their source of funds also must be provided including a notarized affidavit that they are sponsoring you stating an amount allocated for your studies.

Funds from the following must have supporting documents;
1. Business- DTI permit and BIR tax certificates. These must be taken from the said offices where the business is located.
2. Salary- Employment certificate, ID and BIR Tax are sample documents for this
3. Retirement pay- documents issued by the former office/company

If they sold a property to have the amount for your studies, a notarized deed of sale must be shown also including the owner's copy of the sold property.

Never ever submit any FAKE documents. This will only lead you to bigger trouble once the embassy finds out.