Want to Voluntary Cancel Your Student Visa? First Know About these 5 Crucial Factors!

Are you considering to voluntary cancel your student visa? Canceling your student visa is not simple and if you wish to shift to a temporary residence or bridging visa then still there can be numerous intricacies.

Let’s look at the most important factors or implications, which you must be aware of before you proceed ahead with voluntary study visa cancellation.

Before You Cancel Your Australia Student Visa

There can be various reasons why you would want to voluntarily cancer your student visa. A common reason is that you would want to apply for another type of Australian visa and does not want to continue studying.

In such cases, you can cancel student visa when you are 18 years or above. If you are under 18 years age, the cancellation request must be signed by your parents, relative or legal custody who is a guardian. Even they must be above 18 years age.

Common Misunderstandings about Student Visa Cancellation

Being a foreign student in Australia is quite expensive as there are numerous factors to consider, like living cost, tuition fee, and limited working hours. For such reasons, it is not easy to make a comfortable living and this can lead to voluntary cancellation of your student visa.

A common implication among students is that if they lodge a new visa application while holding Australian student visa, they will be granted a Bridging Visa A or BVA and will be able to live in Australia on BVA even if they have cancelled student visa voluntarily.

The truth is that you will be granted a BVA as you had applied for one while still holding a student visa, but you will not be able to stay long on BVA if you cancel your student visa. It is because your BVA was permitted on the basis of you holding the student visa. Therefore, if student visa is cancelled, your BVA will also be cancelled.

What are the Consequences of Voluntary Cancellation of Student Visa?

Once your bridging visa A is cancelled the next step would be that you would not be allowed to stay in Australia without a visa. In this situation, you will fall under the category of an unlawful citizen. Also, if there are dependents on your student visa, then their visa will also be cancelled.

Eventually, you need to apply for a Bridging Visa E or BE to legalize your stay in Australia. This will also legalize the stay of dependents on your visa. The BE will enable you to stay in Australia till a final decision is made by the department.

Understanding Your Rights to BVE

BE or the bridging visa E does not offer enough flexibility. Hence, most of the people consider it as one of the worst visas to stay in Australia.

BE comes with strict conditions and rights such as:

• No study except for dependents under 18 year’s age
• No travel rights
• No work rights
• You must report to the Department as and when demanded
• You must advise the department 2 working days before you change your living address or you move

Other than these prominent conditions, BVE also imposes more conditions to the visa holder as well as dependents.

The Process for Australian Student Visa Cancellation

As the first step towards your voluntary cancellation of Australian student visa, you need to submit a ‘request to cancel your student visa form.’ Along with this, you have to provide all essential supporting documents that will voluntary cancel your student visa.

Usually, the request for the same is processed within 28 days and may maximum take up to 90 days.

The next step is to receive a ‘Notice of intention to consider cancellation or NOICC’ letter. This is also known as natural justice letter, which is offered by the department. The department will provide you this once your request has been accepted.

After receiving the NOICC, you will have 5 work days to respond to the Department regarding your change of mind or confirmation for the same.

If you still want to proceed with the process and voluntary cancel your student visa in Australia, the department will notify you when your student visa is successfully cancelled. Also, you would be asked to apply for a Bridging visa E to legalize yourself in Australia as a lawful citizen.

Still have any queries, you can contact Debika migration services and speak to our experts for assistance.

Amitava Deb

• Amitava is a gold medallist from India’s premier technical institute, IIT Kharagpur.
• He has worked with some of the world’s top companies such as Sony Australia Pty. Ltd., Siemens AG Germany, Clarity International Ltd., Reliance Communications and Optus Sydney.
• Amitava is a Chartered Professional Engineer accredited by Engineers Australia. He is a full member of this esteemed association.
• He is a member of the Australian Computer Society, Tele Management Forum and Worldwide Institute of Software Architects.
• Amitava is a well-recognised name in the ICT Professional Community in Australia.