The first two weeks in Melbourne are the busiest weeks you will have all year. You land tired, and you need a phone that works, a place to sleep, a bank account, food, a way to get around, and somewhere permanent to live — usually while jet-lagged and trying to enrol at the same time.
This guide is written for Nepali students and new migrants arriving in Melbourne for the first time. It walks through what to do before you fly, what happens at the airport, and the order to tackle everything in during your first few weeks, so you are not trying to do all of it on day one.
The most important thing to understand early: do not rush into a room. Almost every housing problem newcomers have starts with signing up for a room they had not seen, in a suburb they did not know, in the first three days after landing. Book somewhere temporary, then look properly.
Before you fly
A few things are much easier to organise from Nepal than from a hostel bed in Melbourne.
- Book temporary accommodation for at least two weeks. Not a permanent room. See the next section for why.
- Print and save digital copies of your passport, visa grant notice, Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE), OSHC certificate, academic transcripts and a passport photo. Keep copies in your email and on your phone, not only in your bag.
- Tell your bank in Nepal you are travelling, and understand your card's international withdrawal fees.
- Carry some Australian dollars in cash — a few hundred is plenty. You mostly will not need cash in Melbourne, but it helps in the first day or two.
- Check your airline's baggage limits. Bedding, kitchenware and winter clothes are cheap here. Bring documents and things you cannot replace, not bulk household items.
- Save your university's international student office number, your accommodation address, and one emergency contact somewhere you can reach without internet.
- Know Australia's biosecurity rules. Food, spices, seeds and plant products must be declared on your incoming passenger card. Declaring something is free; not declaring it can mean a serious fine. When in doubt, declare it. The rules are on the Australian Government biosecurity site.
Why you should not book a permanent room before you land
It is tempting to arrive with everything sorted. Resist it. Booking a long-term room from Nepal is how many newcomers lose money.
From overseas you cannot:
- See the room, the house, or the actual condition of the bathroom and kitchen
- Meet the housemates you will live with every day
- Tell whether the suburb suits your campus, your budget and your comfort
- Confirm the person messaging you actually controls the property
Scammers know exactly when the student intake happens, and they target people who have not landed yet. The pressure is always the same: this room is in demand, pay a deposit today to hold it. Read How to avoid rental scams in Melbourne before you send anyone money — it is the single most useful thing you can read before you fly.
Book two to four weeks of temporary accommodation instead. Options include:
- University-arranged short-term or temporary accommodation, often bookable before you arrive
- Backpacker hostels and budget hotels, cheapest if you share a dorm
- Short-stay apartments, more expensive but useful if you arrive with family
- Staying with a relative or family friend, if you genuinely have one who has offered
Two weeks of hostel costs far less than a bond you cannot recover, and it buys you the time to inspect properly.
Arriving at Melbourne Airport
Melbourne Airport (Tullamarine, code MEL) is about 25 kilometres north-west of the city. After you land you will go through immigration, collect your bags, and pass through biosecurity, where your bags may be x-rayed or inspected. This is normal. Be honest about food you are carrying.
Once you are through, getting into the city:
- SkyBus runs frequently between the airport and Southern Cross Station in the CBD, and to some suburban hubs. It is the usual choice for a first arrival with luggage.
- Taxi or ride-share costs considerably more but takes you door to door. Use the official ranks or the app's designated pickup area — never accept a ride from someone approaching you inside the terminal.
- Being picked up by a friend or relative is fine, but agree on the exact terminal and pickup zone beforehand.
Free wi-fi is available in the terminal. Use it to message home, confirm your accommodation, and check your route before you walk out. Current transport options and fares are listed on the Melbourne Airport website.
Your first 48 hours
Do these in roughly this order. Nothing here needs to wait, and each one makes the next easier.
1. Get an Australian SIM card. You can buy one at the airport, at a supermarket, or at any phone shop. Prepaid plans are cheap and need no contract. An Australian number is required for almost everything else — bank accounts, job applications, and room owners who will not deal with an overseas number.
2. Get a myki card. A myki is the travel card for Melbourne trains, trams and buses. Buy one at a station, a convenience store, or the airport, top it up, and touch on when you board. International students are generally not eligible for the same concession fares as domestic students, so check your own eligibility rather than assuming. Details are on the Public Transport Victoria site.
3. Learn to use the journey planner. The PTV journey planner is the tool you will use most in your first month. Search real trips at real times, not just "how far is it".
4. Save the emergency numbers. Dial 000 for police, fire or ambulance in a genuine emergency. It is free from any phone, including a phone with no credit. For non-urgent police matters, call 131 444. See Triple Zero for what counts as an emergency.
5. Buy the basics. Coles, Woolworths and Aldi are the main supermarkets, and Aldi is usually the cheapest for staples. For Nepali and South Asian groceries — dal, masala, rice in bulk, mustard oil, gundruk — look for Nepali and Indian grocers around Footscray, Sunshine, St Albans, Glenroy, Reservoir, Coburg and Dandenong. Many suburbs have at least one Nepali store.
Setting up your money and paperwork
These take a little longer, but start them in your first week.
Open an Australian bank account. You can often start the application online before you arrive and finish it in a branch with your passport and visa. You will need an Australian address — your temporary accommodation is acceptable for opening the account, and you update it when you move. Most major banks waive account fees for students, but ask rather than assume.
Apply for a tax file number (TFN). A TFN is your personal tax number. You do not need it to enter the country, but you do need it to work — without one, your employer must withhold tax at the highest rate. Applying is free and done online through the Australian Taxation Office. Never pay an agent to get a TFN for you, and never post it in a job ad or public group.
Confirm your OSHC health cover. You should already have Overseas Student Health Cover as a visa condition. Activate your membership with the insurer and save your member number in your phone. It is what you use when you see a doctor.
Know your work rights. Student visas allow limited work hours, and those limits change from time to time — check the current condition on your own visa grant notice rather than relying on what a friend tells you. Whatever your hours, you are entitled to the legal minimum wage, payslips, and superannuation. Cash-in-hand work below minimum wage is common and it is not legal. The Fair Work Ombudsman explains your rights and helps regardless of your visa type.
Enrol and get your student ID. Attend your university's orientation even if it feels optional. It is the fastest way to meet people, and the international student office is where you go when something goes wrong later.
Finding a room safely once you have landed
Once you have a phone number, a bank account and somewhere to sleep, start looking properly. Give yourself two to three weeks.
Work in this order:
- Pick your suburbs first, not the room. Choose based on your campus, likely part-time work, rent, and where you feel comfortable. Best Melbourne suburbs for Nepali students compares the main options.
- Check the journey before you inspect. A cheap room with a bad commute is not cheap. Public transport guide for students choosing a room explains how to test this properly.
- Message and ask questions before travelling. Bills, minimum stay, notice period, number of housemates, guests, parking. Questions to ask before moving into a shared house is a list you can copy and paste.
- Always inspect in person. Take a friend if you can. Use the Room inspection checklist before you say yes so you check locks, mould, heating and the bathroom rather than just the bed.
- Understand the money before you pay. What the bond is, how it is held, when rent is due, and what "bills included" actually covers. Bond, rent and bills explained for new renters in Victoria covers this in detail.
- Get everything in writing. Rent, bond, move-in date, what is included. Messages and screenshots count.
Your rights as a renter in Victoria — including in a shared house or rooming house — are explained by Consumer Affairs Victoria, and free advice is available from Tenants Victoria. Read a little of it before you sign anything, not after a problem starts.
What the first month usually costs
Every arrival is different, but the pattern of spending is fairly predictable, and it helps to expect it rather than be surprised by it.
In your first month you will typically pay for:
- Two to four weeks of temporary accommodation
- A prepaid SIM and a myki with some credit on it
- Bond for your permanent room, plus rent in advance
- Bedding, towels, a few kitchen items and a clothes airer
- A first big grocery shop, which is always more expensive than later ones
- Travel to inspections across several suburbs
- Warm clothing, if you arrive between April and September
Melbourne winters are colder and damper than most people expect from photos. A proper jacket in your first week is money well spent, and it is worth checking that any room you inspect has real heating before you commit.
Quick first-fortnight checklist
Copy this and tick things off as you go.
- Temporary accommodation booked for at least two weeks before flying
- Passport, visa grant, CoE and OSHC documents saved digitally and on paper
- Food and plant items declared at biosecurity on arrival
- Australian prepaid SIM card bought and working
- myki card bought, topped up, and concession eligibility checked
- 000 and my university's international student office saved in my phone
- Bank account opened and my card received
- TFN applied for through the ATO website, free of charge
- OSHC membership activated and member number saved
- Orientation attended and student ID collected
- My work-hour condition read on my own visa grant notice
- Suburbs shortlisted based on campus, work and rent
- Journey to campus checked in the PTV planner at real times
- At least three rooms inspected in person before choosing one
- Rent, bond and bills confirmed in writing before any payment made
- Room photos taken and condition recorded on move-in day
How HamroRooms can help
HamroRooms lists rooms across Melbourne for the Nepali community, and every listing is reviewed by an admin before it goes live. That does not remove the need to inspect, but it does mean you are not filtering out obvious fake ads while you are jet-lagged.
While you are settling in, HamroRooms lets you:
- Search rooms by suburb, so you can focus on the areas near your campus and work
- See rent, what bills are included, and room details before you make contact
- Message room owners directly from the listing, without handing over your personal details first
- Compare several rooms in different suburbs before you commit to any of them
Take your time with it. A room that is still available next week is a better outcome than a bond you cannot get back.
Final advice
Melbourne will feel overwhelming for about two weeks, and then it will start to feel normal. Almost every Nepali student here went through the same fortnight of queues, forms and confusion, and came out the other side.
Do things in order: phone, myki, temporary bed, bank, TFN, then the room. Do not let anyone rush you into paying for a place you have not stood inside. And when something does go wrong — a dishonest landlord, an employer underpaying you, a housemate problem — ask for help early. Your university's international student office, Tenants Victoria and the Fair Work Ombudsman all exist for exactly that, and using them costs you nothing.
Give yourself a few weeks. Choose the room carefully. The rest settles down faster than you expect.