Subclass 500 · amounts current for 2026–27
Student Visa Funds Checker
Work out exactly how much money you have to evidence for an Australian student visa, including the school costs almost every calculator leaves out, and check whether the money you have will actually satisfy a case officer. Free, and no email needed for your result.
Your course
Living costs are always 12 months. Tuition depends on how long your course runs, and that catches people out.
On your CoE. If it runs 12 months or less you evidence the whole course fee. If it runs longer, you evidence the first 12 months only.
Use the annual tuition on your CoE or offer letter. If your course is 12 months or less, put the full course fee here.
Money you have already handed over comes off what you still have to evidence. Keep the receipts.
Who is coming with you
Each family member adds their own 12 months of living costs, and school-age children add a second amount on top.
Each one adds $4,449 in living costs.
Each school-age child adds $13,502 a year in school costs, on top of their living costs. This is the figure most calculators leave out entirely.
Where you are applying from
Travel money is part of the requirement, and the amount is set by region.
Travel amounts are specified by region and sources quote them differently. Check the amount for your own country before you rely on it.
The money you actually have
The amount matters, but so does where it came from and how long it has been sitting there.
Money in deposits, term deposits, an approved education loan, a government loan or a scholarship. Not property, gold or a car.
Around three months of history is what establishes the money is genuinely yours. A large deposit that appeared last week needs a document explaining it.
Add your course length and fee in step 1 and the total builds as you go.
Funds you hold against what you need
Whether your evidence will hold up
The other way to satisfy it
- The reported figure for a student bringing family is $102,500 a year.
- For a student applying alone, published figures disagree, ranging from about $84,500 to about $87,900. This tool does not calculate that route for exactly that reason. Confirm the current amount before relying on it.
- The income has to belong to the person actually supporting you, and the relationship has to be evidenced.
Get your funds evidence checked before you lodge
Financial refusals are usually about where the money came from, not how much there is, and a refusal follows you into every application after it. Send us your situation and a registered professional will tell you whether your evidence stands up.
Your dates and result are attached automatically, so you won't need to explain them again.
The amounts this checker uses
Living costs, 12 months
| Primary student | $29,710 |
| Spouse or de facto partner | $10,394 |
| Each dependent child | $4,449 |
| School costs, per school-age child per year | $13,502 |
These took effect on 10 May 2024, replacing the previous $24,505 figure. Living costs are always a 12-month amount, whatever the length of your course. School costs are in addition to a child's living costs, not instead of them.
Tuition
- If your course runs longer than 12 months, you evidence the first 12 months of fees.
- If it runs 12 months or less, you evidence the whole course fee.
- Fees you have already paid reduce what you still have to evidence, provided you can produce the receipt and a statement from your provider.
Travel
| Applying outside Australia, most countries | $2,000 |
| Applying outside Australia, East or Southern Africa | $2,500 |
| Applying outside Australia, West Africa | $3,000 |
| Applying while in Australia | $1,000 |
| In Australia, returning to Africa | $1,500 |
Travel amounts are set by region and published sources quote them differently, with some naming $2,500 for India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Check the amount for your own country rather than relying on a general figure.
Evidence that is accepted
- A money deposit or term deposit with an approved financial institution.
- A formal loan from a financial institution, with the loan agreement and evidence of disbursement.
- A government loan.
- A scholarship or sponsorship, with a formal award letter.
Who can provide the funds
- Parents or legal guardians, a spouse or de facto partner, grandparents, siblings, aunts and uncles.
- The relationship has to be evidenced, not just asserted.
- Where a relative is supporting you, their capacity to do so has to be shown, typically through payslips, a tax return and bank statements.
Evidence that is not accepted
- Gold and jewellery.
- Vehicles.
- Property, including equity you intend to release.
- Cash held at home, or any balance that cannot be verified.
How long the money has to have been there
- Around three months of account history is the usual expectation, with some advisers suggesting three to six.
- There is no single published minimum. What the Department is testing is whether the money is genuinely yours and genuinely available, and history is how that gets shown.
- A single large deposit needs a document behind it: a loan agreement, a property sale contract, a gift deed, an inheritance letter.
What this checker does not cover
The Genuine Student requirement
- Money is one part of the application. The Genuine Student requirement is assessed separately and a strong bank balance does not satisfy it.
- Financial refusals are frequently really about the source of the funds rather than the amount, which is why this tool spends as much space on evidence as on arithmetic.
The annual income alternative
- You can evidence annual income instead of savings. The reported figure for a student bringing family is $102,500.
- For a student applying alone, published figures disagree, ranging from roughly $84,500 to roughly $87,900. This tool deliberately does not calculate that route, because publishing a number that later proves wrong would be worse than saying nothing. Confirm the current amount with Home Affairs.
Minimums are not targets
- These are floors. A case officer can expect more where the course is long, the city is expensive, or the family is larger.
- Landing within a few hundred dollars of the minimum reads worse than a visible buffer.
Other things outside this tool
- Overseas Student Health Cover, which is a separate compulsory cost.
- The visa application charge itself.
- English test requirements, health and character checks.
- Assessment level, which affects how much documentary evidence you are asked to supply up front.
Check these figures yourself
The living cost amounts have been stable since May 2024, but travel amounts vary by region and the income alternative is reported inconsistently. Verify before you lodge.