I am leaving for Australia soon, currently in Thailand. I will leave for Australia at the end of January and be returning around mid April. I am wanting to get the education visa where you sign up for a language course and you dont have to leave the country for a year (just check in at immigration every 3 months I believe it is)

Wondering what the process is to get this visa. Should I start the process now whilst still in thailand? ie find a school, etc? Any help on getting this worked out much appreciated.

You can only stay for one year by getting 90 day extensions at immigration at the majority of language schools. Only those that are part of a university will allow a one year extension and then 90 day reports.

You should check some schools and then decide which one you want to attend before leaving. Then a few weeks before your planned departure from Australia make the final arrangements with them by paying a deposit and getting them to send you the required documents to apply for a single entry non-ed visa.

If you don't mind leaving the country every 90 days you might want to consider getting a multiple entry non-ed visa that would give unlimited 90 day entries for a year. You would find it less costly since you would not need to enroll for 400 hours of study needed for the other option.

You can only stay for one year by getting 90 day extensions at immigration at the majority of language schools. Only those that are part of a university will allow a one year extension and then 90 day reports.

You should check some schools and then decide which one you want to attend before leaving. Then a few weeks before your planned departure from Australia make the final arrangements with them by paying a deposit and getting them to send you the required documents to apply for a single entry non-ed visa.

If you don't mind leaving the country every 90 days you might want to consider getting a multiple entry non-ed visa that would give unlimited 90 day entries for a year. You would find it less costly since you would not need to enroll for 400 hours of study needed for the other option.

thanks ubonjoe, I use to get the multi-entry non-ed visa, but seems to be harder and harder to get these days.

What is a multi-entry "non-ed visa"?

With this visa you only need to do a border run every 90 days. The immigration can not check if you go to school or not. Its the best visa for under 50year old in my opinion.

If you're applying for a visa in Australia, good luck.

In fairness, my experience with the Embassy in Canberra goes back a while (OK, 2010), and maybe things have changed since then. I certainly hope so.

The person at the Embassy kept asking (in successive email) for more and more information, culminating in a requirement for proof that the Thai director of the school was actually a Thai. The school said no other post anywhere in the world had ever asked for such information before.

One day before my planned departure I called the person at the Embassy. Yes, she said, good news, your visa is ready and I'll post it out to you today. She always knew that my departure was the next day and there was no way posting it was going to get it to me in time.

I wasn't in Canberra, and I briefly contemplated going there to pick it up, but in the end it was more cost-effective to pay something like $180 to have my passport couriered to me. I did have a flexible ticket and could have changed the flight to Thailand without penalty, but I also had a lot of arrangements in Thailand that I didn't want to change.

After the first couple of interactions with the person at the Embassy, I felt (no proof, mind you) that she was gaming me. It seemed like passive-aggressiveness taken to new heights.

I suggest you apply well in advance, and make sure your documentation is all sorted.

Edited November 19, 201510 yr by dundas

They are getting stricter and stricter, I use to get a multi-entry non-immigrant education visa from brisbane thai consulate by post, based on doing muay thai (had invitation letters, etc) however brisbane consulate has now shut down and I believe they were the only ones granting this visa in australia. Now I will have to deal with sydney, wondering what you need for this a multi-entry "non-ed visa", how do you get this?

They are getting stricter and stricter, I use to get a multi-entry non-immigrant education visa from brisbane thai consulate by post, based on doing muay thai (had invitation letters, etc) however brisbane consulate has now shut down and I believe they were the only ones granting this visa in australia. Now I will have to deal with sydney, wondering what you need for this a multi-entry "non-ed visa", how do you get this?

You could try at one of the honorary consulates in Adelaide, Hobart, Perth or Melbourne.

I think if you presented supporting documents from a language school registered with the Ministry of Education you could get one at the embassy in Canberra or the official consulate in Sydney.