How to write a GTE letter for an Australian student visa?
GTE is one of the most important document when you are planning to apply for your studies in Australia and if you don’t get it right it could even lead towards the refusal of your student visa.
So in this article, we are going to give you a guide on how to write your GTE letter for an Australian student visa.
Let’s GO!
What is GTE?
GTE stands for Genuine Temporary Entrant.
GTE is a statement or a letter of your genuine intentions to study in Australia. This means that you have no purpose other than to study and get a quality education in Australia. Also, it is not intended to maintain your ongoing residency in Australia.
As per department of home affairs website, it is not a measure to discriminate against students who after completing their studies in Australia, develop their skills and become eligible to apply for permanent residency through their skilled program. So it is certainly not intended to exclude those students.
It is very important that this letter must be written by you and you only. It should not be written by any of your family members or friends or your migration agent, and it should always match your current level of English.
So, if you have scored only 6 each score in your IELTS test and your GTE statement includes a very high level of vocabulary and perfect grammar, it could make your case officer a bit suspicious about whether you have written this statement or not.
Ideally, you should be writing this letter in English, but if you’re not comfortable then you can write it in your native language and then submit a translated copy of that.
Factors involved in assessing GTE
Here are few major factors (as sourced from Department of Home Affairs website) that are used when assessing your GTE requirements.
Your circumstances in your home country
This includes information about
- yourself,
- your family members
- your current ties in your home country
- if there is any gap in your study and the reasons for that gap
- reason for not studying the same course in your home country
- and your financial situation in your home country
Your potential circumstances in Australia
This includes things like
- if you have any relatives in Australia
- your understanding and knowledge about the course that you’re planning to study
- the fee structure of that course
- the possible living arrangements in Australia
- and the lifestyle in Australia
Value of the course to your future
That includes factors like
- how relevant the course you’re planning to study to your previous study
- how the proposed course or study will improve your skills or
- how it could improve your future job prospects or your pay scale and
- what could be the expected salary in your home country after completing your studies in Australia
Your immigration history
The factors include:
- any previous travel history
- any previous visa refusals for Australia or any other country
- any previous visa cancellations
- your travel history to Australia and
- amount of time spent previously in Australia on a student visa
It is important to understand that there could be some other factors that could be looked at by the case officer when assessing your GTE requirements.
What is covered in GTE letter?
Before we explain the process of writing the GTE letter for your Australian student visa, please understand that GTE is a personal statement and it will certainly vary from one person to the other.
If I am writing a GTE letter for myself, it will only be valid for me and my circumstances and you should not be using any other person’s GTE as a template for yourself.
So, it is very important that you write your own GTE letter based on your circumstances. However you can certainly consider to include the information that we are going to discuss in this section.
It’s also very important to understand that there is no specific structure for writing this statement and you can certainly change these paragraphs as per your wish or as per your requirement or circumstances.
Now, let’s discuss on how to write your GTE letter for your Australian student visa.
Opening paragraph of GTE letter
This could include:
- introduction about myself which includes my name my current location
- information about my family and
- my current studies or qualifications
Second paragraph of GTE letter
You could include:
- what course you are planning to study
- where you are going to study including the name of the university and the city
- explanation to how this course relates to my previous study
Third paragraph of GTE letter
You could write down:
- why you are planning to study this specific course
- what sort of value this course brings to my career and future (e.g. better pay or better job position)
Fourth paragraph of GTE letter
You can talk about:
- why you are choosing to study in Australia and not in any other country (e.g. lifestyle, etc).
- what you would like to experience when planning to live in Australia for your studies
- why you are not doing the same course in your home country and
- why you are planning to the same course in Australia instead
Fifth paragraph of GTE letter
You could explain about:
- how you are going to fund your studies in Australia (eg. you saving, loan or help from family)
Sixth paragraph of GTE letter
You could include:
- your work experience in your home country (especially if you have worked already)
- how long did you work for
- what sort of job role you were doing and if
- why you are leaving this job to study in australia (if you are currently employed)
Note: If you haven’t worked at all then you can certainly skip this part .
Seventh paragraph of GTE letter
You can talk about:
- your travel history (especially if you have ever traveled to other countries or to Australia before)
- how long did you stay and what type of visa you were on
If you haven’t traveled overseas at all, you can mention that in your letter as well.
Last paragraph of GTE letter
You can talk about:
- your plans when returning home after completing studies in Australia (e.g. family ties, job or business commitment).
Want a free sample copy of GTE Letter for Australian student visa. Download it here.
Please be mindful that this is not a template. It is just a sample for you to review on how GTE letter looks like.
What documents you might need to submit along with your GTE?
Some of the documents you could submit along with your GTE letter for an Australian student visa include:
- Academic transcript – It will provide an evidence of your current qualifications
- Certificate – Previous study certificates.
- Bank Statements – To provide evidence that you have enough funds to support yourself.
- Asset Documents: some other asset documents like your house, jewellery, property etc.
- Reference letters and a payslip – If you are working it could be great to have a reference letter from your current employer.
- Tax Returns – A tax return that you lodged for the current or last year.
- Job Offer Letter – Any job offer letter on your hand including salary and other benefits after completing the studies.
- Study Gap Information – Explanations of reasons for any gap in your previous studies.
- Business plans – if you are planning to start your own business after completing your studies in Australia.
Depending on your circumstances, there could be more documents that you could provide to validate your statements in the letter.
How long GTE letter should be?
From November 2022, Department of Home Affairs has provided clear guidelines that GTE statement should not be more than 300 words long with a maximum of 2,000 characters.
Previously, the department had a 2,000 character limit when completing your GTE statement online. But there was no maximum word limit.
So, students will need to make sure that they address the points mentioned above as briefly as possible and provide only relevant information.
Some additional tips on how to write a good GTE letter
Here are few extra tips to help you write a better GTE letter for your Australian student visa:
- Write this statement as a story – As it is your personal story, so try to write it as a story so that the other person can understand who you are and what you are trying to achieve. Obviously the person who is going to read your GTE don’t know you much. So, they are going to read your story and try to see if you are genuinely interested in Australia or not.
- Keep it simple – It is certainly not your English test. So make sure that you write this letter as per your English abilities, because the person who is going to read this GTE can easily pick it up if you have written it by yourself, or you have got some help from someone else.
- Don’t stress too much about the grammar or the spelling mistakes – Ideally there shouldn’t be any but don’t stress too much about those things.
- Keep your paragraphs short and sweet – Don’t write it into the big paragraphs. Try to write to the point. Maybe keep a maximum of 2-3 lines in each paragraph as no one likes to read a huge amount of text in one paragraph.
- Be specific – Try to give specific examples then give generic ones. So, instead of saying that it will improve my skills, explain what type of skills the course you are planning to study could improve.
- Be honest – It is important that you tell your story honestly in this GTE letter because the case offices can work out in few minutes that whether you’re telling them a truth or a lie.
Let us know your thoughts on this article in the comments below. Did you find it useful? If you are planning to study in Australia, then we also suggest you to download our free student guide from here.
