How to Write a Genuine Student Statement for an Australian Student Visa

Last reviewed 21 July 2026. Government fees and rules change; figures below are current at review and worth re-checking on the Department of Home Affairs site before you lodge.

The Genuine Student requirement replaced the old Genuine Temporary Entrant statement in March 2024. Instead of one essay, you answer targeted questions inside the ImmiAccount application about your circumstances, why you chose your course and Australia, and how the course benefits you, then attach evidence. Write specific, factual answers that match your documents, in your own words.

What questions does the Genuine Student requirement ask?

• Your current circumstances: family, community, employment and economic situation in the Philippines.
• Why this course, why this provider, and why Australia rather than studying at home or elsewhere.
• How the course benefits you, meaning the career or earning outcome it unlocks.
• Anything else relevant, including your immigration history and, for onshore applicants, why a further stay is sought.

How should each answer be structured?

• Open with the fact, not the feeling. State your job, your education, your family situation, then build on it.
• Connect the course to your history: a caregiver applying for a Certificate III or a nursing pathway makes sense on paper before a case officer reads a single adjective.
• Name real details: the provider, the campus city, the course cost you have budgeted, the role and realistic salary the qualification leads to.
• Keep every claim consistent with your documents. If the answer says your employer approved study leave, the employment letter must say it too.

What evidence should I attach with the statement?

• Employment records and payslips supporting your work history.
• Academic transcripts and certificates showing progression into the chosen course.
• Financial evidence consistent with the funds requirement, currently AUD 29,710 in annual living costs plus tuition and travel.
• Family and community ties evidence where it supports your answers.

What mistakes get Genuine Student answers rejected?

• Copied template essays. Case officers read thousands, and recycled wording is obvious and fatal.
• Course choices that contradict your history with no explanation for the change of direction.
• Grand promises about returning home that your ties evidence does not support. The Genuine Student test allows for post study pathways, so honesty about your plans, matched with evidence, beats theatre.