The first admission period of the year is often one of the times that many Vietnamese students choose to study abroad. However, in order to complete the admission procedures and prepare the application Visa 500, waiting until close to the admission date to start preparing can make you passive.
If the goal is February 2027 admission, the end of August 2026 is a reasonable milestone to check to see how ready the application really is.
The important thing is not how many documents you have, but how much the parts that directly affect applying for an invitation letter, receiving Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE) and preparing the visa application have been processed.
Below is a recommended De1 checklist for students and parents preparing documents.
1. Already have an Offer Letter and are progressing to CoE
The first step is to determine how much you have been accepted by the school. If you have received an Offer Letter, you need to check whether it is an official invitation or a conditional invitation and whether there are any conditions that have not been fulfilled. Offer Letter does not mean you can apply Visa 500. When submitting the application and at the time the Department of Immigration Australia decides on the application, the Visa 500 applicant must have a valid CoE for the course.
Therefore, if by the end of August 2026 there is still no Offer Letter, or there is an Offer but many conditions have not been completed, this is the time to work with the school to determine the exact progress. In particular, for courses with high entry requirements or limited seats, do not assume that the February 2027 course always has seats available.
2. Check financial capacity and access to money
This is the part parents should prepare as soon as possible. When asked to prove financial capacity, Visa 500 applicants must prove they have enough money for minimum expenses related to the trip, tuition and living expenses. Currently, the Australian Department of Immigration stipulates that the minimum living expenses used to calculate financial capacity for an international student is 29,710 AUD for 12 months. In addition to this amount, you must also calculate tuition according to regulations, travel expenses and expenses related to family members, if any.
But having money in your account is not the whole story. Australian Immigration may also require proof that the applicant actually has access to the funds. If funds are provided by parents or others, records may need to show relationship, identification documents and evidence of previous financial support. If a large amount of new money appears in your account, it is necessary to explain the source of that money.
This is why De1 recommends that parents should not wait until close to the visa submission date to start “beautifying” their financial records.
A clear, reasonable and explainable financial history is often more valuable than a large balance that appears suddenly.
3. Check the English requirements now
If the course requires an English certificate, the end of August is the time to clearly determine whether you meet the requirements or not. One point to pay special attention to is that the school’s English requirements and the English requirements of Visa 500 are not exactly the same.
According to current regulations, the English score for Visa 500 depends on the type of course and specific case. For some packaged routes with ELICOS, the required score may be lower if the ELICOS duration conditions are met. For example, Australian Immigration currently stipulates that packaging with at least 10 weeks of ELICOS or at least 20 weeks of ELICOS has different corresponding English thresholds.
Therefore, you should not just look at a fixed IELTS number and apply it to all applications. If you have not passed the English test, you need to determine immediately: Do you need to retake the test, study ELICOS, or use a packaged route?
Early determination helps avoid the situation where you have chosen a course but only to discover that you have not met the entry or visa conditions until close to the enrollment date.
4. Start preparing the Genuine Student section
Genuine Student (GS) is one of the very important parts of the Visa 500 application. The GS requirement applies to Visa 500 applications submitted from March 23, 2024 and focuses on assessing whether the applicant is truly coming to Australia for the main purpose of studying. In the visa application, the applicant will have to answer questions related to current circumstances, reasons for choosing the course and educational institution, benefits of the course for the future and other relevant information.
Each answer is limited to 150 words and must be written in English. The Australian Department of Immigration also said it appreciated responses supported by evidence. Therefore, by the end of August it is not necessary to have a complete GS to submit immediately, but there should be a first draft. Let’s start with practical questions: Why did you choose this industry? Why study in Australia instead of Vietnam? Why choose this school? How does the course relate to previous studies or work? After completing the course, how does this knowledge benefit career plans? A good professor is not an essay saying that Australia “has good education” or “an international environment”. Such general answers hardly make a difference. The important point is that personal reasons must be logical and accompanied by evidence.
5. Check OSHC
Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) is health insurance for international students. Visa 500 applicants must have appropriate insurance for the period of stay as required by the visa. The Australian Department of Immigration also requires visa applicants to provide information about insurance providers and insurance periods when necessary. If a student takes multiple courses or transfers between educational institutions, special attention should be paid so that there are no gaps in the insurance period.
For applicants outside of Australia, the OSHC start date should also be checked to match the expected date of entry, instead of simply using the course start date as the insurance start date. Therefore, before submitting your visa, you should carefully check:
Provider → insurance period → insured person → start date → end date.
6. If you are considering changing majors or courses, you need to check first
You should not choose a course just because it is “easier to get into” and then plan to go to Australia to change majors. Visa 500 has condition 8202, according to which the visa holder must maintain full-time study in the registered course and the new course must meet the requirements related to AQF level. The regulations also set progress and attendance requirements. Therefore, if you are considering switching from your current course to another, you need to specifically check:
- Is the new course at the same AQF level or higher?
- Is it necessary to apply for a new Subclass 500 Visa?
- Will switching courses affect the CoE and current visa status?
In particular, it should not be taken simply that “you can change courses at any time in the same school”. It is important to consider the course level and visa conditions that apply to your particular situation. If the goal is to start the course in February 2027, by the end of August 2026 you should have a pretty clear picture of the entire application.
School: defined course, school and Offer status.
CoE: knows exactly what conditions are missing to have a CoE.
Finance: has identified the source of money, cash flow history and supporting documents.
English: has met the requirements or has a specific plan to complete.
Genuine Student: has a draft and has identified the evidence that needs to be prepared.
OSHC: has determined the insurance plan and time needed to purchase.
Visa: has checked requirements for personal, financial, health, criminal record and related documents.
This is a much better situation than not starting to collect documents until November or December 2026.
Don’t wait until you have all the documents to start preparing
A Visa 500 application should not be viewed simply as a set of documents. The Australian Department of Immigration evaluates many factors related to the application, including the applicant’s circumstances, immigration history, knowledge of the course and educational institution, study plans as well as the value of the course for the future. In particular, with GS, the Australian Immigration Department said answers with supporting evidence will be given more importance.
Therefore, preparing early not only helps have enough documents but also has time to detect unreasonable points in the entire profile story. If you are aiming for February 2027 admission, the end of August 2026 is a very suitable time to sit down and review all progress before entering the stage of completing the visa application.
Source: IMM (Visa 500)
