What Department of Home Affairs Officers Look for in a Student Visa Application? Documents released by the Department of Home Affairs under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 provide valuable insight into how visa officers are trained to assess the Genuine Student requirement for the Student visa application (subclass 500). The released material includes Departmental training slides, standard operating procedures, case studies, and internal guidance concerning student visa decision-making. While significant portions have been redacted under section 47E(d) of the FOI Act, the documents still reveal the factors that may strengthen—or undermine—a student visa application. For prospective international students, the