What is CRICOS and why does my Australian institution need to be registered?

CRICOS stands for the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students. It is the official Australian government register of education providers and courses that are approved to enrol international students on student visas.

If you are applying for an Australian Student Visa (Subclass 500), your institution and your specific course must both be registered on CRICOS. This is a fundamental requirement — if your course is not CRICOS-registered, your visa application will be refused regardless of how strong the rest of your application is.

Your Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE), which is issued by your institution, will include the CRICOS provider code and course code. You can also verify CRICOS registration independently at cricos.teqsa.gov.au.

Almost all major Australian universities, TAFE institutes, English language schools, and private colleges that enrol international students are CRICOS-registered. However, it is always worth verifying before accepting an offer and paying any tuition fees.

Note that even if an institution is CRICOS-registered, not every course they offer will be on the register. If you are changing courses or upgrading from a short course to a degree, confirm the new course is also CRICOS-registered.