Free English classes are one of the things the Department of Home Affairs lists as available on a subclass 820 visa. Its wording includes the qualifier that matters: you can "attend free English classes through the Adult Migrant English Program if eligible".
That qualifier is the whole of this page. The visa is not the same thing as eligibility for the program, and the program sets its own rules.
What the AMEP is
The Adult Migrant English Program is an Australian Government program that provides English language tuition to eligible migrants and humanitarian entrants. It is long established, it operates nationally, and the tuition is delivered by contracted service providers rather than by a government office. Practically, that means you deal with a provider in your area, not with a department.
The program exists because settling into work, study, health care and daily life in Australia is a great deal harder without functional English, and because that is a problem the government would rather solve early than late. It is aimed at adults, and it is aimed at everyday, practical English.
Who decides whether you are eligible
The Australian Government sets the eligibility rules for the AMEP, and it sets what tuition an eligible person can access. Both have been changed over the years — the settings today are not the settings of a decade ago.
For that reason this page deliberately does not publish an eligibility list or an hours figure. Any number written here would be a snapshot, and a reader planning around an out-of-date snapshot is worse off than a reader who made one phone call. What you should take from the Department's statement is that the subclass 820 is a visa on which AMEP tuition is possible, and that the check is done by the program.
Important
Eligibility and the tuition available are set by the Australian Government and confirmed by an AMEP provider. Do not plan your study, work hours or childcare around a figure you read somewhere. Ask a provider what applies to you now.
How to find a provider and get started
The program publishes its list of contracted providers by location on its own Australian Government website, and providers are spread across capital cities and regional areas. The practical steps are short:
- Find the providers covering your suburb or town on the program's provider list.
- Contact one directly. Ask whether you are eligible on the visa you currently hold, what tuition you can access, and what they need from you to enrol.
- Have your visa details ready. Australian visas are digital and there is no label in your passport, so a VEVO check showing the visa currently in effect is the cleanest evidence of your status.
- Ask what class formats they run. Providers commonly offer more than one arrangement, and the right answer depends on your hours, your travel and whether you have young children at home.
If you are still on a bridging visa waiting for the 820, ask the same questions rather than assuming either way. Your position depends on the program's rules and on what you actually hold, which is why the VEVO check is worth doing first. See Bridging visa A for what that visa is.
Why it is worth doing, beyond the classes
Two reasons that are easy to overlook while you are focused on the visa.
The first is that English is what makes the rest of the 820 useful. The visa gives you full work rights and the ability to study, and both of those are easier to use with better English. See work rights and studying on the 820 visa.
The second is citizenship. Australian citizenship has its own requirements, assessed years later and administered separately from the partner visa, and English is part of the ordinary path through it. Starting early costs nothing if you are eligible. See from the 801 to citizenship.
Where professional help matters here
Enrolling in English classes is not a migration matter, and an AMEP provider is the right place to ask about it. The thing worth flagging is what sits underneath the question: people frequently find out during an AMEP enquiry that they do not actually know which visa they hold or what conditions are on it. If that describes you, the answer is a VEVO check and, where the position is not clear, advice. An application prepared by an immigration lawyer is more likely to succeed, because misunderstandings about what you hold tend to surface at the worst possible moment — at a border, at an enrolment desk, or at the permanent stage. No one can promise an outcome.
What to do next
Run a VEVO check, then contact an AMEP provider near you and ask about eligibility on your current visa. After that, what the 820 visa lets you do covers the rest of the visa, and settling in Australia covers the practical side of getting set up.
Common questions
Can an 820 visa holder get free English classes?
The Department of Home Affairs lists attending free English classes through the Adult Migrant English Program among the things a subclass 820 visa lets you do, if you are eligible. The visa does not decide eligibility on its own. The program sets the criteria and an AMEP provider confirms whether you qualify.
What is the Adult Migrant English Program?
It is an Australian Government program that provides English language tuition to eligible migrants and humanitarian entrants. Tuition is delivered by contracted service providers around Australia rather than by the government directly, so enrolment happens through a provider near you.
How many hours of tuition can I get?
The Australian Government sets what tuition is available, and those settings have changed over the years. This guide does not publish an hour figure because any number here could be out of date by the time you read it. Ask an AMEP provider what you are entitled to before you plan around it.
How do I find an AMEP provider?
The program publishes the list of contracted providers by location on its Australian Government website. Contact a provider directly to ask about eligibility, enrolment, class times and how your class level is decided. Providers often run classes in more than one format, so ask what is available near you.
Can I do AMEP classes while I am on a bridging visa?
Eligibility is set by the program, not by this guide, and it does not follow automatically from having lodged a Partner visa application. Ask an AMEP provider about your specific situation, and have your visa details from VEVO ready when you do.
Sources
Keep reading
Work Rights on the 820 and Bridging Visa A
A granted 820 carries full work rights. Before grant, your bridging visa copies the work conditions from your old visa. How to check and how to lift them.
Read the guide →
Medicare on the 820 Visa
An 820 holder can apply for Medicare. How enrolment works, where bridging visa holders stand, and how to cover yourself for health care while you wait.
Read the guide →
Studying on the 820 Visa
You can study on an 820 visa, but the Department says there is no government support and costs are at your own expense. How fee status is decided.
Read the guide →