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Before Leaving Home

Preparing to move to Australia can be very exciting, but there are many preparations to take care of before you leave home. To ensure that you are as prepared as possible, please read Your Road to Success in full. If you have not received a copy of this booklet by mail, you can download it by clicking on the link below:

Your Road to Success

In this section you will find:

Many of these forms are in our Things to Do booklets for Main campus and Cumberland campus students, please download in full here:

Things to Do – Main campus
Things to Do – Cumberland Campus

Airport Arrival Booking

Also see Your Road to Success Chapter 1

Once you have made your flight arrangements, please advise ISSU of your arrival details. These details are required to ensure that there is an information pack waiting for you at the Airport Arrivals Reception Desk.

Please complete the Airport Arrival Booking form found here:

http://fmweb01.ucc.usyd.edu.au/issu/arrivals

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Accommodation

Also see Arrange Accommodation and Finding a place to live in Your Road to Success

You will need to organise some form of accommodation before you leave your home country. If want to live on campus you will need to organise this before you arrive in Sydney. If you want to live off campus you should organise temporary accommodation for your first couple of weeks or until you find suitable permanent accommodation.

If you're not sure whether you want to live on or off campus, see Chapter 4 of Your Road to Success

For information and booking forms for on and off campus accommodation around Main Campus and inner city areas, please download Things to Do – Main campus.

If you are a student studying at the Cumberland campus and would like accommodation in that area, please download the Things to do before you leave home - Cumberland Campus.

For more information about the types of accommodation available and costs, please go to the Accommodation Office

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Important Documents

Also see important documents in Your Road to Success

There are a number of documents you will need on arrival in Sydney and in the first few weeks. To help you collect these documents we have compiled a checklist for you:

  • Valid passport (including photocopies)
  • Student visa (including photocopies)
  • Letter of Offer of Admission and other material sent to you by the University
  • Receipts of payment for all University fees
  • Certified copies of personal papers, such as academic transcripts, educational or work qualifications, scholarship award letter (if applicable)
  • Identification (ID) papers, such as birth certificate, proof of citizenship, driver’s licence from your own country, international driver’s permit (if needed)
  • Papers relating to any study that may earn you credits for the course you are enrolling in at the University. (If you want credit for study completed at a university other than Sydney you will need to bring detailed information – course outlines, syllabus outlines, texts used, course assessment information, number of teaching hours, etc.)
  • Credit cards, bank keycards, traveller’s cheques, etc
  • Medical records, immunisation records and school records for you and all accompanying family members
  • Proof of marriage (if relevant)
  • Receipts for goods you are bringing to Australia, to assist with assessing Customs duty and sales tax (e.g. computers, cameras)
  • Reference letters (for finding accommodation or employment) including rental references
  • This booklet – Your Road To Success

You can also download the Document Checklist here.

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Pre-Departure Checklist

Also see the checklist in Your Road to Success

There is a lot to organise and pack before you leave for Australia! Ensure that you have everything in order by completing the Pre-Departure checklist.

I have:

  • Organised travel arrangements (visa, air tickets, etc).
  • Returned my Airport Arrival Booking Form to the ISSU informing them of the date and time of my arrival.
  • Had medical/optical/dental check-ups (and packed spare pair of glasses/contact
    lenses, prescriptions for medicines, etc, in my luggage)
  • Organised at least temporary accommodation, either on campus or off campus.
  • Packed my document folder of important documents, as well as placing immediately
    needed items (passport, air ticket and other valuables) in my hand luggage.
  • Checked Customs and Quarantine regulations and separately packed items I will need to declare (e.g. food, computer), as well as ensuring there are no sharp objects in my hand luggage.
  • At least $1,500 available for use on arrival in Sydney (including approximately $300 in cash).
  • Packed some of my personal items such as photos, address book with contact details of family, friends, my country’s embassy in Australia.
  • Packed this booklet – Your Road to Success – in my hand luggage for reading on the plane.
  • Purchased padlocks for my luggage and applied them to my bags.

You can also download the Pre-departure Checklist here.

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More information about Australia

Use the following websites to gather useful information about Australia and Sydney:

Australian Tourism Commission for travel, historical and general information about Australia

Tourism NSW – for information about travel, accommodation and events in Sydney and the state of New South Wales.

City of Sydney - information about Sydney for residents and tourists.

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