Refunds for commencing or newly enrolled international students

Information on this page is for commencing international students who wish to apply for a refund.

International students who hold a bridging visa or temporary visa other than an international student visa will have their refund applications assessed according to the refund rules for domestic and continuing students.

You can apply for a refund as a domestic or continuing student, if you are:

an Australian citizen
a New Zealand citizen
a holder of a Permanent Resident visa
a holder of a Permanent Humanitarian visa
A student who holds a bridging visa or a temporary visa other than an international student visa
an international student in the first semester of a current program whose results have been officially released.
on an approved leave of absence
a currently enrolled student requesting a refund for an overpayment

Please visit the refund page on the student site

If you have not yet enrolled but are considering studying at a later time, find out how to defer your offer.
If you have deferred your offer, please 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, please make sure you cancel your enrolment before the census date prior to submitting a refund application. Find out how to cancel your enrolment.
If you are enrolled but intend to withdraw from all study, 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 reduce your study load in the first semester of study, you will not be eligible for a refund of the difference between the tuition fees you paid for that semester and the tuition fees charged. Instead, the difference will appear as a credit in your student account.

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.

All refund applications are assessed based on the applicable Schedule of Fees and Charges (see refund guidelines).
Any refund amount can only be determined after a refund application has been submitted and assessed.
If your application for a refund is successful any outstanding charges and administrative fees will be deducted from the refundable amount.

If you paid your fees via credit card, authorised refunds will be processed to the same credit card.
If you paid using another method, any refundable amount will be paid to your nominated bank account. However, if you choose to have your refund transferred to an international bank, you need to enter the same bank account details of the bank account that made the original payment. International bank policies may require the refund to go back to the payer's bank account. If you provide a different bank account it may cause lengthy delays.

Completed applications for refund will be processed within 20 working days. Please note that transfers to overseas bank accounts will take up to 6 weeks. RMIT is not responsible for any currency variations in foreign exchange rates.

It is highly recommended that your application for refund is submitted as soon as possible. Any delays in submitting the application, may impact the refund amount.

The refund amount is determined by an assessment of your reason for refund, supporting documentation and when you apply for a refund, relative to your Program commencement date.

Table B1: Full refund assessment tool

Refund reason	Refund amount	Evidence required	Refund submission date
Visa not granted in time to enrol in onshore study for programs which are unavailable for online study	Full refund	Visa application with visible date of submission	Application for refund must be submitted within 12 months of program commencement date. **Enrolled students must cancel their enrolment by the census date
Student is transferring to an RMIT international partner or RMIT Vietnam	Full refund	Evidence of enrolment
Compassionate or compelling reason	Full refund	Supporting documentation for specific circumstance
Visa application has been refused	Full refund	Department of Home Affairs Visa Refusal Letter	**Enrolled students must cancel their enrolment before the official result release date for your current semester
Provider default - RMIT is unable to provide the program	Full refund	Email notification from RMIT
Overpayment of fees	Full refund	Proof of payment	Application for refund must be submitted within 12 months of program commencement date.
Student did not meet program conditions *Academic or English condition not met	Full refund	Official academic transcript or statement of results if not from RMIT or  English language proficiency test result
Student cannot provide release letter from current education provider	Full refund	Evidence of refusal of release

Refund Guidelines for offers issued on or after 5 May 2021

Table B2: Partial or no refund assessment tool

Refund reason	Timing	Refund amount	Evidence required
Personal reasons: (job offer, homesickness, change of mind, change of study plans, failure to enrol by RMIT deadlines or financial considerations)	4 weeks or more before program commencement date	Deposit less 10%	No evidence required
Within 4 weeks of the program commencement date, up until and including census date	Deposit less 50%	No evidence required
Any other reason for refund that is not specified under Table B1 Full refund Voluntary discontinuation of Program Incorrect or insufficient information or documentation supplied as part of the application process (e.g. fraudulent) Student re-applies to RMIT, for a Commonwealth Supported Place in their program, after being granted permanent residency (see section 2.14)	After census date	No refund	No evidence required

Refund reason

Timing

Refund amount

Evidence required

Personal reasons: (job offer, homesickness, change of mind, change of study plans, failure to enrol by RMIT deadlines or financial considerations)

4 weeks or more before program commencement date

Deposit less 10%

No evidence required

Within 4 weeks of the program commencement date, up until and including census date

Deposit less 50%

No evidence required

Any other reason for refund that is not specified under Table B1 Full refund

Voluntary discontinuation of Program

Incorrect or insufficient information or documentation supplied as part of the application process (e.g. fraudulent)

Student re-applies to RMIT, for a Commonwealth Supported Place in their program, after being granted permanent residency (see section 2.14)

After census date

No refund

No evidence required

Refund Guidelines for offers issued on or before 4 May 2021

Application submitted	Refund amount (AUD)
4 weeks or more before Program commencement date	Deposit minus $500
Less than 4 weeks and up to Program commencement date	Deposit minus $1000
After Program commencement up to census date	Deposit minus $5000 (Foundation Studies: Withdrawal charges will be 50% of the Foundation Studies first semester tuition fees)
After census date	No refund

Important University dates.

Please provide all supporting documents in English.

Refund reason	Required document
All applications	Copy of passport photo and signature pages
Under 18	Copy of parent’s passport and signature pages
Visa refusal	Department of Home Affairs Visa Refusal Letter
Visa granted too late	Visa application with visible date of submission
Compassionate or Compelling	Personal statement detailing how the circumstances affect your ability to study. Supporting documentation If you have a close family member who is ill, please include evidence of your relationship to them.
Financial hardship due to COVID –19	Personal statement detailing the reasons for the unexpected financial downturn.
Transferring to an RMIT international partner or RMIT Vietnam	Evidence of enrolment
Did not meet Program conditions	Academic transcript/statement if not from RMIT
Failed Simplified Student Visa requirements	Passport only
Personal reasons	Passport only
Program no longer available	Passport only
Accepted Offer too late to enrol	Passport only
Overpaid fees	Receipt of payment
Scholarship reimbursement	Scholarship grant letter

If you have OSHC with Medibank and paid your OSHC fees to RMIT, we can organise this refund for you. If your OSHC is arranged directly with another provider, please contact them directly to discuss a refund.

If your refund application requires more information or supporting documents to proceed, please provide these within 10 working 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 if you wish to proceed. Please note that your application will be processed within 20 working days of receiving a new complete application.

Refunds for commencing or newly enrolled international students