What Are The Latest Updates on Graduate Visa 485 In Australia?

Posted by Immigration Agent Adelaide on January 18, 2022

Have you just completed your graduation from an Australian educational institute but do not want to return to your home country right now? Well, for students like you, the Australian Government has designed a separate visa. That visa is what we call the Temporary Graduate Visa Subclass 485. If granted, you can stay in Australia for a few more years and gain substantial experience to boost your career.

Also Read – Know Why Your Graduate Visa 485 Processing Gets Delayed

There Are Two Streams Under This 485 Visa Australia

• Graduate Work Stream
  If you have a graduate diploma in a course related to a skilled occupation with high demand in the Australian sector, you can apply to this stream. Graduate Work Stream allows an international student to live and work in Australia for 18 months. For this stream, the chosen skilled occupation should be present on the appropriate skilled occupation list.
• Post-Study Work Stream
  For this Graduate Visa 485 stream, you must have graduated from a university with an Australian degree (bachelor, master, or Doctorate). Post-Study Work Stream will allow you to live and work for 2 to 4 years in Australia. The period of stay will depend on your qualification. Having a bachelor’s degree will help you stay for 2 years, while a doctorate will help you stay for 4 years.
• Second Post-Study Work Strem
  The Second Post-Study Work Stream is intended for holders of a first Temporary Graduate visa in the post-study work stream who have graduated from an Australian institution in a regional area. It allows you to temporarily live, work, and study in Australia. The second Post-Study Work Stream will allow you to live and work for 1 to 2 years in Australia.

What Are The Latest Changes In Temporary Graduate Visa 485?

Recently, the government announced in late November that all graduates of Master Degree courses by Coursework will be eligible for a three-year Graduate Visa, regardless of where they completed the course. This begins on December 1st, so anyone granted a Graduate Visa after that date who completed a Master Degree by Coursework will have a three-year visa.

Previously, an applicant had the chance to apply for this visa only once. But now, a second Temporary Graduate Visa has been introduced in the Post-Study Work Stream. This stream is also for an applicant who has finished postgraduate education in a regional institute and stayed in a regional area before applying for the second visa.

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Another set of changes has been made, thanks to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Generally, applicants need to lodge their applications for the 485 Visa inside Australia within a few months of their Australian Student Visa 500 expiration. But now, as international students can’t return to Australia because of frequent border closure, applications can be made offshore. This concession applies to both streams.

Note: The Australian government announced in November that the concession would allow former or current Subclass 485 visa holders [Temporary Graduate] whose visas would expire after or on February 1st, 2020, to re-apply for a visa with the same duration beginning July 1st, 2022.
And the government has already stated that the changes will take effect from December 1, 2021 to July 1, 2022.

What Does The Temporary Graduate Visa Subclass 485 let you do in Australia?

The Subclass 485 visa Australia will allow you to stay, work and study in Australia. In other ways, this visa offers several advantages to the holders, which are as follows.

• After finishing your undergraduate or postgraduate studies, or any professional training, you can carry out a professional internship in Australia with this visa.
• Currently, the job industry will look forward to employing more and more technically sound employees. And with the 485 Visa in Australia, you can combine the course of your favorite subject with a professional internship. It can be any language course or any other subject you like.
• Doing an Australian internship will make your CV strong. Thus, if you want to return to your home country after it ends, it will undoubtedly increase the opportunities to find a job.
• The Graduate Visa 485 will also help you find important professional contacts in Australia and people in other countries.

Get Updates With The Requirements Of Visa Subclass 485

Let us discuss this section in three parts. In the first part, you will know about the common Visa Subclass 485 requirements. And in the next two parts, we will discuss stream-specific requirements. The common eligibility requirements are as follows.

1. The applicant must have a valid Australian student visa in the last 6 months of the visa application.
2. English language proficiency skills are required. If you appear in the IELTS, you have to score a minimum of 6 overall band scores with at least 5 in each of the 4 modules. Equivalent results will be required for alternative tests like TOEFL iBT, OET, CAE, and PTE Academic. Holders of particular passport types will not need to meet this requirement. So, it will be better to check whether you belong to this passport holder category.
3. Sufficient health insurance arrangements should be made.
4. As an applicant, you will also need to meet Special Return Criteria and Public Interest Criteria.
5. Specific medical examination results will be required for health requirements. Also, you have to undertake an Australian Federal Police check for a character clearance certificate. The check should not be more than 12 months old.

For the Graduate Work Stream, the eligibility requirements are as follows.

• The nominated skilled occupation should be present on the MLTSSL (Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List).
• You must have completed your graduation in the last 6 months, except there is a concession.
• The qualification should be related to the skilled occupation.
• You have to take a skills assessment conducted by an assessing authority, and the outcome should be positive.

For the Post-Study Work Stream, the following conditions need to be fulfilled.

1. To apply for this visa, you must hold a Bachelor (Honours) Degree, or a Masters by Coursework degree, or a Masters (Extended) Degree, or a Masters by Research Degree, or a Doctorate.
2. The course and the institution should have been CRICOS- registered. CRICOS is an acronym for the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students, which lists Australian institutions permitted to provide education for overseas students.
3. You must apply for the visa within 6 months of your graduation. Please note that the course completion refers to the publication of final results.

For a successful Temporary Graduate Visa Subclass 485 application, you must meet both the general criteria and specific eligibility criteria for a particular stream you apply for.

Read Also – Why Should You Appraise Studying in Regional Territory of Australia

485 Visa Processing Time And Cost

The 485 Visa processing time is pretty similar for both streams. The processing time for the Graduate Work Stream, 75% of visa applications get processed within 10 months, while 90% get processed within 12 months. For the Post-Study Work Stream, 75% of visa applications get processed within 9 months, while 90% get processed within 11 months. For both the streams, Graduate Work Stream and Post-Study Work Stream the application fee costs AUD1680, and for Second Post-Study Work Stream it is AUD660.

How Does A Migration Agent Help You?

Visa Subclass 485 application can seem to be pretty complicated for you. You have to gather all the documents, complete the application form, and be updated about the progress. Missing one single piece of information may delay the process.
Thus, it can be better to get in touch with a reputable firm that has offered excellent migration services in Adelaide. These firms will always help you with contacts of top-rated Immigration Agent Adelaide.