Things To Do Before Arriving in Australia: Your Pre-Departure Checklist
If you are planning to come to Australia for your studies soon, then these are the things to do before arriving in Australia.
So, consider this article as your pre-departure checklist before arriving in Australia.
Let’s go!
1. Passport and Student Visa 🛂
You will need a passport and a student visa to travel to Australia for your studies. So get your student visa sorted nice and early.
Also, make sure that you have a passport which has a validity of at least six months. It is because having a passport with less than six months of validity can cause an issue when arriving in different countries.
We suggest you print all your visa documentation as well, so you have it handy when you need it during your travel.
Tip: Get a little travel bag where you can keep all your passport and travel-related documents, including visa.
2. Student Enrolment and Other Documents 📁
Your educational institution would have issued you a confirmation of enrolment (aka CoE). They would have issued an offer letter or some other documentation as well.
It is important to print out all these student enrolment documents and bring along some other documents as well, including:
- Your education certificates
- IELTS/PTE test results
- Driving license
- Birth certificates
- Proof of payments
We have a complete list of documents that you need to bring into Australia. You can check the document list here.
3. Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) 📜
It is a legal requirement for entry to Australia on a student visa, that you must have your Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC).
This insurance helps to protect students for any health issues while you are in Australia on your student visa.
So make sure you have your health cover policy arranged before you leave home.
4. Book Flights 🛫
We suggest that you book your flights to Australia nice and early after you get your student visa.
Because if you’re booking closer to your arrival date then it can be quite expensive at times.
Keep your flight details in a safe and secure place along with your passport and visa.
We also suggest that you book it through a reputable travel agent or book it directly with an airline. Especially these days due to the cancellations and rescheduling because of COVID-19.
Once you have already booked them, make sure to print out all the booking confirmations from the airlines as well. Print out your boarding pass also if you check yourself online.
5. Travel Insurance 📋
We recommend you get travel insurance, which covers things such as cancelled flights, lost documents, dental or optical care, etc.
You would have already booked your overseas student health cover, but we also suggest you that you have your travel insurance booked as well.
Travel insurance usually covers things like cancelled flights and lost or broken baggage.
Basically all the things which are usually not covered in your Overseas Student Health Cover can be covered in travel insurance.
Although it is not compulsory, we recommend taking it to avoid issues with your travel.
Tip: Check your credit card features as sometimes they offer complimentary travel insurance to their customers.
6. Contact Details ☎️
You may want to have a list of emergency contact details for family, as well as your embassy, accommodation and institution details.
It will be good idea for you to create a list of contact details before arriving in Australia.
This includes:
- Emergency contact details
- Your family and friends contact details
- Your University contact details
- Your accommodation in Australia
- Your Embassy or local Consulate in Australia
When creating this list, it’s a good idea to have the details of the names, the phone numbers and their physical address as well.
7. Custom, Quarantine and COVID specific information 😷
Understand the Australian custom standards, any quarantine requirements and COVID specific requirements like testing, vaccinations, etc.
As you might be aware that Australian Customs are quite strict regarding the things that you can and can’t bring into Australia.
So we suggest you check the Australian Border Force and Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestery website.
On these websites, you can check individual items that you can and can’t bring into Australia.
Apart from that, understand if there are any specific COVID-19 requirements. These requirements can change at anytime, so we suggest you check the Department of Home Affairs and Department of Health website for latest travel restrictions.
8. Airport Transfer 🛄
So after arriving in Australia, one of the first things you will need is the airport transfer.
Sometimes, your university might offer you a free pickup. If that’s the case, make sure to arrange that nice and early as you may not be able to arrange it if it’ too close to your arrival time.
If your university is not providing the airport pick up service, then you can book a taxi, or you can also get Uber or other ride-sharing services from the airport.
9. Book Accommodation 🏘️
Our suggestion for students regarding the accommodation is to book it nice and early.
Whether it’s a short-term or a long-term accommodation, search for the preferred accommodation on various platforms and book in ahead of time.
University accommodations get booked quite quickly as well, so if you are planning to stay in on-campus accommodation, you need to be quick.
Also, make sure you have the complete address of your accommodation in Australia because you will need to write this on your incoming passenger card.
Tip: Get your payment confirmation of the accommodation printed as well.
10. Australian Currency 💸
It is recommended to have some Australian currency with you prior to leaving your home country.
The common question for international students is how much money should I bring as an international student.
We would say “it depends”, there are a lot of factors that come into play when deciding how much money you need to bring. These factors include:
- The city you are arriving
- Your preferred lifestyle
- Presence of family and friends in Australia
- Availability of part-time work
But ideally, if you bring anywhere from $1000 to $2000, it can be great for your first few days.
Of course, you don’t need to bring everything in cash. You can bring it in your bank card or other travel cards.
Before you depart your home country, confirm with your local bank if the international transaction will cost you any fee. This is to avoid any surprise fees charged by the banks or other financial institutions.
Again, the money you want to bring can vary depending on your personal financial circumstances.
11. Packing Bags 🎒
Your bag packing will vary based on the climate of your destination in Australia. As Australia is a huge country, the weather varies from one side to the other.
So you will need to check the weather of your destination throughout the year.
It is important to understand the airline baggage size requirements and things you can and can’t carry while travelling.
As a student, some airlines allow additional luggage as well, so confirm that with your airline nice and early.
If you want a complete packing checklist for international students, we got you sorted with our downloadable packing checklist here.
12. Download Apps 📱
Research and download any relevant apps before you travel. We have a complete list of apps you should download on our website.
You might need to research on what sort of apps you might need when arriving in Australia. You can download some of the apps before arriving in Australia:
- Google Maps
- Google Translator
- Public Transport Apps
- Food delivery services
- Ride sharing services
- Bank apps
Before you leave, here is a little present for reading till now: Download our Pre-departure Checklist from here.
We hope this information helps you with your preparation before travelling to Australia.
Wishing you all the best for your safe travel.
