US Engaged to AUS

[spinky]

Hi all,
I am a US citizen who applied to medical schools in AUS as an international student. I am currently engaged to an Aussie and I was wondering if anyone on this forum had personal experience switching from an international to a domestic student. I was planning on attending school as a fee paying international student for at least a semester, which I believe means that I would NOT have to reapply as a domestic student. Also I believe that if I become a citizen before graduation, I could apply for internships as a domestic student, thus giving me a higher preference. However, I've had a hard time finding any information about this subject so any advice would be appreciated!

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[pitman]

Hi all,
I am a US citizen who applied to medical schools in AUS as an international student. I am currently engaged to an Aussie and I was wondering if anyone on this forum had personal experience switching from an international to a domestic student. I was planning on attending school as a fee paying international student for at least a semester, which I believe means that I would NOT have to reapply as a domestic student. Also I believe that if I become a citizen before graduation, I could apply for internships as a domestic student, thus giving me a higher preference. However, I've had a hard time finding any information about this subject so any advice would be appreciated!

I'm not up on which schools now allow you to make that change, and they have been known to change their minds, so you should ask them individually. But assuming you can, things to keep in mind:

1) Don't count on being able to pay domestic fees once you change over to domestic. Likely you'd be put into a full-fee domestic spot if the school has them, but if not you may only be able to switch if a domestic spot opens up (e.g., someone fails, in which case there could be others in the same position as you 'competing' for that spot). If the school does not have full-fee domestic spots, you could be screwed since you can't legally remain as an international student with Permanent Residency (when full-fee domestic spots were banned for a few years under Labor, some schools had a policy that if you got PR while a student, you'd have to re-apply to the school as a domestic student, which is far more competitive).

2) Because you *started* med as an int'l student, you would still have to contend with the 10-Year Moratorium. If you don't know what that is, search the forums before asking about it please.

3) So long as you get PR before you *apply* for internship in your final year of med, you will be treated as a domestic student in terms of priority.