What Shall International Students Bring To Australia?

Many International students are worried about what they shall carry while going to Australia. Well the requirements may vary because not all students have same needs and it may also vary among international students from various countries. In this article I will try to focus on basic needs of international students and what they should bring to Australia with themselves.

List of Items:

1. In Australia mostly people use casual dressing so International students should bring at least 4 jeans and any type of 7 shirts. Students seldom use any dress pant and shirts, so don’t worry about that.
2. The temperature is very cold in winter, minimum 5 C, so International students should bring a blanket or quilts along with 1 pillow.
3. It is very windy in Australia and it’s very difficult to resist the cold winds in winter, so international students shall bring at least a pair of sweater/jersey, a pair of good jackets and a jumper that can be used during whole student life.
4. International students should bring 1 dress shoe (black color shoe for jobs), 1 casual shoe, 1 jogger and 1 slipper (chapel).
5. International students should bring 1 towel, 2 tooth brush, 2 tooth pastes and 1 big shampoo. Male students should also bring Shaving kit with themselves.
6. Male International students should bring at least 6 knit wears and 6 under wears. Female students should do arrangement according to male student requirements.
7. International students should bring at least 4 pair of socks for summer and 4 pair of socks for winter.
8. It is better for International students to bring a mobile phone from their country as mobiles are not cheaper in Australia.
9. Any international student who is going to study computers in Australia or any their degree is related to computers then it’s better to bring a laptop from their country rather than buying it here. You will find laptops and other electronic equipments expensive in Australia.
10. International student must bring 1 college bag/school bag to carry books and notes to university.
11. There are some other stuff that International student should carry with them like comb, nail cutter, pen, pencil, rubber, sharpener, notebook, diary, sun glasses, cap, ja nimaaz (for Muslim), perfume, deodorant, gel etc.,

How Much Weight Can I Carry?

The weight that students can carry with them while coming to Australia depends upon the airlines they used. Some allow 20kg along with 7kg hand carry so International students must consult the ticket agency. Some agents trick students by saying that they can carry 30kg but on ticket it is written 20kg. Just tell them if it is 30kg then write it on ticket and verify it from airlines otherwise you may face problem at airport. But one thing is confirmed that if you are allowed to carry 20kg, then you can put 20kg in your suitcase and can also carry some extra luggage in hand carry, suppose extra 7kg.

How To Decrease The Weight:

You can easily decrease the weight and can carry more stuff by following some tips.

1. Don’t buy heavy suitcases
2. Don’t buy heavy blanket or quilt; you can buy some light one that are equally utilizable as heavy one. Just need to pay a little more to buy them. No need to buy strong bag for blanket, you can bring it in the same plastic bag in which you bought it. There won’t be any damages to it.
3. Don’t buy heavy towel, go for light but good one.
4. Don’t carry boxes, you can reduce the space and weight by throwing the boxes with items you bought like shoe box, deodorant box etc.,
5. You can also reduce the weight by wearing jeans, shirt, jacket and heavy shoe that you are suppose to bring with yourself. Also can put some luggage in your college bag and keep it with yourself as hand carry.

Note:

You can buy glass, cups, plates, soap, electricity converter, any kind of electronic equipment at cheap price in Chinese shops in Australia.

If you have got some questions, then register yourself first and post it in comment box.

Thanks

How Much Money Shall I Carry?

Many students overseas are not sure how much money shall they bring with themselves while coming to Australia. If it is your first time to Australia then I shall suggest you to come prepared. It’s better to bring enough money with you because initial expenses tend to be more. Once you are settled and know everything then you can get quite a hold on your expenses.

Many universities arrange a free airport pickup for their students. If your university do not provide any such service and also you don’t have any friend or relative then you may need to hire a taxi or have to use some other transportation facility.

If you are staying temporarily in a university arranged accommodation, hotel, back packer or have already arranged through some friends or relative here then in all cases you have to pay your rent in advance, also may need to pay bond/security that will be refunded. In hotel etc., they won’t ask you to pay more security but some amount equal to your rent. But if you have got accommodation and are going to pay rent then most probably you have to pay equal amount as security also.

Obviously, you are allowed to carry limited luggage so you may need to do some shopping in start. Like you may need a pillow, mattress, in winter you may need a blanket, quilt. Also you may need to buy a computer if you didn’t bring any laptop; so your expenses may vary for these basic necessities.

You have to buy ticket that may be daily, weekly or monthly. I suggest you to go for a weekly ticket because you need to be familiar with surrounding and also have to go to university and searching for accommodation so you have to travel more. Also if you get an opportunity to do training for some job (which you can do without a work visa) then you have to travel to job place.

While applying for Work Visa, you have to pay some fee; I think it is $60 for that. It may be paid in advance using credit card or at the time of appointment using cash or debit card.

You mobile phone will surely work here but still you have to buy a SIM card that you can put in your mobile and can use it. The cost of connection may vary because mobile companies provide various kinds of plan and you may need to do payment monthly.

I think AUD $2000 will be enough to carry on, you can easily live here for at least 2 months what ever your situation is. The main money hungry thing is rent and travel expenses. If you are staying with some friend and paying rent around $200 - $250 then this amount will last for more than 3 months covering all of your expenses including bills, food, travel charges etc., On the other hand if accommodation is provided by university, or room rented in hotel then it will cost you too much.

Some students use to bring AUD $3000, its better to be on safe side because things may go wrong here. May be for some reasons you lose your accommodation or some other bad things happen to you, so its better to be on safe side.

There may be other expenses which I didn’t mentioned and an other thing is that it’s not easy to get a job straight away so you have to use your budget carefully and this budget is what ever amount you have brought with your self. Once you get a job then everything will go smoothly and the extra amount of money that is left will go to your savings, use it later on.

Search For Accommodation:

Accommodation is always a problem for student what ever country he goes to. It’s not easy to get a house on rent without any credit history, that’s the case with Australia too. Students struggle in finding accommodation no matter its close or far from their university.

If you have not arranged any accommodation then it’s the best time to start searching for a good place to live. Your contacts in Australia will play an important role. Ask your friends to search for some shared accommodation. If you don’t have any friends then look for people from your country and religion, they will be very helpful in this case.

Students usually prefer accommodation that is close to university. In this way they save the transportation cost and can easily go to their university at any time. Labs and Libraries of most universities are open 24 hours, so you can use internet facility at any time. Also it is easy when you have got various group discussions going on in university.

If you are a Muslim then the best option is to go to a mosque and meet people there. You can easily make many friends in just a small fraction of time. I have seen many people in getting accommodation through mosques. Also you will find some notices there about availability of accommodation, so respond to the notice as soon as possible.

Still can’t find any place then an other approach is to contact International student department of your university. They may not find an accommodation for you but will try to tell you methods in finding one soon. They may provide you contact information of senior students. Some universities arrange a session especially for providing some services and guide lines to international students in finding accommodation that can be helpful.

Some students start living with a family; they get a separate room and share the kitchen and bathroom. Even though they have got an accommodation but most of them are not happy.

Also there are numerous real-estates sites in Australia and you can search for shared accommodation there. Temporary accommodation is not at all a problem, you can even use university arranged accommodation but is some how expensive. Most of students support new comers and provide temporary accommodation for a week or two weeks.

Need To Do Enrollment Again:

Even though you are already enrolled in a program and have already paid your semester fee but still you have to go to your university and have to do enrollment again. In this way your university will know that you have arrived in Australia and are ready to join the university.

This session normally includes enrollment, orientation, student ID card etc. You have to visit your university along with passport and confirmation of enrollment. There you will be asked to fill some form including personal details, current address, and contact number and so on. All information will be then entered in to university student database and you have to upgrade this information when ever you change your address or other contact details. Because university may need to contact you through mail like sending you form for paying next semester fee etc.

After successful enrollment your university will make a student ID card for you that will be your identification, like you have to carry it while doing exams. Also go to bank and update your details there, provide you student ID.

When all this is done then your university will forward your enrollment to Department Of Immigration And Multicultural And Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) which also keeps a record of student in their database. If in future you are going to change your university then doesn’t forget to inform DIMIA about it.