Your College Closed or the Provider Defaulted: What Happens to Your Student Visa

Colleges sometimes close suddenly, lose their registration, or stop offering a course part way through. If this happens to you, your student visa is not automatically cancelled, but you need to act quickly to stay enrolled. This guide explains what your provider and the Tuition Protection Service must do, and how the student visa rules treat provider default.

What counts as provider default

• your course does not start on the agreed starting day;
• your course stops being delivered after it starts, but before you finish;
• your course is not provided to you in full;
• including where the provider is sanctioned, or its registration is suspended or cancelled.

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What the provider and the TPS must do

The provider must tell you about the default in writing. Within 14 days of the default, it must either place you in an alternative course that you accept or refund your unspent tuition fees. If it does not, the TPS can help you find an alternative course with another provider, or help you get a refund through TPS Online. Refunds cover tuition fees only, not OSHC, books, accommodation or visa charges. If an alternative course costs more, you pay the difference.

Ask for your records straight away. Request your student records, course structure, letter of offer, CoE and payment receipts from the provider while it is still operating.

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Your student visa after a default

Your current student visa is not cancelled just because your provider closed. But your visa requires you to stay enrolled in a full time registered course at the same or a higher AQF level. If you are no longer enrolled, your visa can be at risk. Enrolling in an alternative course, with a new CoE from the new provider, protects you. See condition 8202.

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Applying for a new student visa in Australia

Since 2 October 2026, most students must apply offshore for a new student visa. Provider default is an exemption. You can apply in Australia if:

• you could not complete a registered course because of provider default;
• you were enrolled in that course on the day of the default;
• you need a further student visa to complete an alternative registered course, or further courses after it;
• you apply within 12 months after the default; and
• you have not already made an application because of the same default.

Family members who hold student visas as your dependants can generally be included. See partners and children and student visa changes from 2 October 2026.

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Choosing a new course

Your new course still needs to fit the Genuine Student requirement and the AQF level condition on your visa. A course at a lower level can cause problems. If you are close to finishing, ask whether credit can be given for completed units. See changing courses and providers.

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What you should do now

• Get your documents now: records, CoE, offer letter and receipts.
• Respond to the provider or TPS quickly: accept a suitable alternative course or claim a refund.
• Stay enrolled: your visa requires a registered course.
• Apply within 12 months: if you need a new student visa because of the default.