I am currently offshore and have received both a fully funded PhD offer in Australia (commencing February 2027) and an invitation to apply for a Subclass 189 visa.
I plan to lodge my 189 visa application in December but have not yet applied for a student visa. Given the uncertain processing time for my offshore 189 application and my inability to defer the PhD, would applying for a student visa later (while 189 decision is pending) create any issues?
If you can somehow get student visa first and then lodge you 189 application its better as you will be eligible for a bridging VISA and also you will have more chances of easily getting student visa this way
I made the same mistake as I lodged my 491 early and after few days I got my 476 Visa but when my 476 visa expired I had to come back to my home country as I was not eligible for a Bridging Visa and I am still waiting for my 491 Visa