If you’ve accepted your offer to study at RMIT and paid a tuition fee deposit, you can apply for a refund depending on your situation and timing.
Before you apply
You can apply for a Commencing international student refund if you meet any of the below conditions:
- hold a student visa OR have been issued a Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE) to apply for a student visa, and have not yet enrolled, or enrolled and cancelled your enrolment in the first semester, OR
- accepted a conditional offer and made payment, but have not yet been issued a CoE.
This includes cross-campus, exchange and study abroad students.
Not a commencing international student?
If you do not meet the conditions above, you may be eligible for a domestic or continuing international student refund. This may apply if you are already enrolled, have been granted a Leave of Absence, or hold a bridging or temporary visa.
Review the RMIT refund guidelines to understand whether you may be eligible for a full refund, partial refund or no refund.
Your refund application will be assessed based on:
- your reason for refund
- your supporting documentation
- when you apply for a refund, relative to your program commencement date.
All refund applications are assessed based on the applicable Schedule of Fees and Charges.
If your application for a refund is successful, any outstanding charges or administrative fees will be deducted from the refundable amount.
We recommend submitting your refund application as soon as possible.
You will need:
- a copy of your passport biometric page (required for all refund applications)
- if you are under 18 years old, a copy of your parent or legal guardian's passport photo ID biometric page or alternative photo ID card
- any supporting documents required for your refund reason, listed in the Evidence required section of the RMIT refund guidelines.
- If you would like your refund paid into an Australian bank account, have your bank details ready.
- You do not need to provide international bank account details at this stage.
- If your refund is approved and you require payment to an international bank account, you will receive a link to complete a Convera Refund form.
After you submit your application
Refunds are generally processed within 20 business days.
During the assessment process, we may request additional information or supporting documents.
If your refund is approved
Credit or debit card payments: Your refund will be processed back to the same credit or debit card in line with banking compliance rules and regulations.
Other payment methods: Your approved refund will be paid to your nominated bank account.
If you nominate an international bank account to receive your refund, RMIT will send a unique link to a Convera Refund Form.
If you receive a partial or no refund outcome
You can submit an appeal within 20 business days of receiving your outcome.
Your appeal must include:
- new information not included in the original application
- new supporting documents.
Refund guidelines
All refund applications are assessed based on the reason for the refund request, supporting documentation and when the application is submitted. Review the scenarios below to understand the refund outcomes that may apply to your situation.
Your application for a full refund must be submitted within 12 months of your program commencement date. This includes students who accepted their offer and are yet to enrol.
If your visa application has been refused, your application for refund should be submitted once you are notified of your visa refusal. Enrolled students must cancel their enrolment before the census date.
| Refund reason | Evidence required |
|
Your visa was not granted in time to enrol |
Visa application with visible date of submission. If your visa was not granted in time to enrol, you are not eligible for a full refund if:
|
| Your visa application was refused | Department of Home Affairs Visa Refusal Letter. |
|
You are transferring to an RMIT international partner or RMIT Vietnam |
Evidence of enrolment from RMIT international partner or RMIT Vietnam. |
|
You accepted an offer by RMIT Vietnam instead |
Offer letter |
| RMIT cancelled your Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE) | Email notification regarding cancellation of your CoE. |
|
You have compassionate or compelling circumstances |
Supporting documentation for specific compassionate compelling circumstances. Proof of return home such as a boarding pass or international movement record may be requested. |
|
RMIT is unable to deliver your studies |
Email notification from RMIT. |
| You overpaid tuition fees | Proof of payment |
| You did not meet the conditions of your offer | Official academic transcript or statement of results if not from RMIT or English language proficiency test result. |
| You cannot provide a release letter from your current education provider. | Evidence of refusal of release. |
You may be eligible for a partial refund if you no longer wish to study at RMIT for any of the following reasons:
- Personal reasons
- Homesickness
- Job offer
- Change of mind
- Change of study plans
- Personal decision to withdraw student visa application
- Financial difficulties
- Decision to accept a Scholarship offer from an Australian or overseas education provider
- Any other reason for refund that is not specified in the full refund reasons.
Refund outcome and submission date
| Refund submission date | Refund outcome |
| 4 weeks or more before program commencement date. | 90% of tuition fee deposit |
| Within 4 weeks of the program commencement date, up until and including census date. | 50%of tuition fee deposit |
|
After the census date. |
No refund |
You will not receive a refund if:
- your application for refund is submitted 12 months after program commencement. This includes students who accepted their RMIT offer and are yet to enrol in an RMIT program
- your application for study or a refund contained fraudulent documentation (whether submitted directly to RMIT or via a third party)
- your student visa has been cancelled for breaching student visa condition(s). A refund may be considered if a compassionate or compelling circumstance can be established via supporting documentary evidence. A visa cancellation letter must be submitted with the application for refund assessment
- you withdraw from RMIT during the transfer provider restricted period of your student visa to take up a place at another Australian education provider without approved release from RMIT. This includes students who:
- accepted their RMIT offer and are yet to enrol.
- have received their first semester grades and whose deposits appear in excess
- did not meet the full-time enrolment requirements in their first semester
- cancelled their enrolment without obtaining a release letter to transfer to another provider.
Student visa holders are required to seek college approval before reducing their study load. Students who reduce their study load in their first semester of their study will not be eligible for a refund without formal approval from their School.
Refund conditions and important information
- Refund applications must be submitted within 12 months of your program commencement date.
- Applications submitted after this time will not be eligible for a refund. This includes students who accepted their offer and are yet to enrol.
- If additional information is requested during assessment, it must be provided within 10 business days.
- Your refund application will be closed if the required information is not received within this timeframe.
- If your refund application is closed, you will need to submit a new application.
- Refund applications are generally processed within 20 business days.
- If you have enrolled, you must cancel enrolment before the census date to be eligible for a refund.
- You may be eligible for a refund if special circumstances cause you to miss the cancellation deadline.
- If you underload your enrolment without university approval, any remaining deposit is non-refundable.
- RMIT is not liable for any variance from foreign exchange rate fluctuations.
- Some international bank policies may require the refund to go back to the payer's bank account. Providing a different bank account may cause delays.
- If you have not yet enrolled but are considering studying at a later time, you can defer your offer.
- You cannot defer your offer and apply for a refund at the same time. Your credit will be used to accept your new offer.
- If you defer your offer, make sure you have completed the deferral process by accepting your new offer before applying for a refund.
- If you have enrolled in any classes (subjects), please ensure you cancel your entire enrolment before the census date prior to submitting a refund application to avoid financial penalties.
- Due to enrolment system restrictions, please do not attempt to drop individual classes (subjects) as this may negatively impact the refund amount you can receive.
- To find out whether you require a release, please refer to Transfer to another education provider
- If you are intending to change study plans and study elsewhere within Australia, you should stay enrolled at RMIT until the outcome of your application for release is finalised.
- If you have applied for a release, please wait for the application to be finalised before applying for a refund.
- If you have any questions about transferring to another education provider or wish to follow up on your release application, please contact isvisa@rmit.edu.au
- If you decide to transfer provider without being granted release, you will not be eligible for a refund. This rule applies to students who require release.
Refund of Overseas Student Health Cover
If you have not commenced any studies with RMIT or enrolled and never arrived in Australia, you are eligible for a refund of Medibank OSHC premium paid at the time of your acceptance.
If you have arrived in Australia and decided to return home, you must contact the Medibank OSHC customer service team to apply for a refund of eligible OSHC fees.
If your OSHC was not arranged by RMIT, you must contact your OSHC provider to apply for a refund directly.
