After you complete your graduation in Australia, you may wonder what to do next. The Australian student visa is a temporary visa, and thus you will not be allowed to stay once that expires. In that case, you may think of applying for the Temporary Graduate Visa Subclass 485 that allows the holders to stay back in Australia for 18 months to 4 years. The Temporary Graduate Visa has two streams, and the time you spend on either of them will be valuable if you have plans to apply for a permanent residence visa later.
Go through this blog to find out its benefits, streams, requirements, application procedure, and other details that you must know before making the application.
What Will This Visa Allow You To Do?
The Temporary Graduate Visa offers several benefits to the holders.
• First of all, you can stay in Australia for 18 months to 4 years, depending on the stream you apply for.
• During this period, you can work and study in Australia.
• You will be able to bring your family members to stay with you.
• As long as the visa stays valid, you can travel to and from Australia whenever you wish.
Two streams under this Visa
The Visa Subclass 485 has two streams under it – Graduate Work Stream and Post-Study Work Stream. These two streams are designed for different sets of applicants and have different requirements.
Graduate Work Stream
The Graduate Work Stream under the 485 Visa allows the holder to stay in Australia for 18 months. While staying, you can study and work. If you want to apply for this stream, make sure you have fulfilled the following eligibility criteria.
• You should have completed a minimum of 2 years of study from an Australian institute.
• Holders with a Diploma or Trade qualification can apply for this visa.
• You must have skills in an occupation present on the relevant skilled occupation list.
• Your course of study should be closely related to your nominated skilled occupation.
Post-Study Work Stream
The Post-Study Work Stream lets the holder remain in Australia for 2 to 4 years, depending on qualification. To apply for this stream, you have to meet these eligibility criteria.
• You must hold a Bachelor or Masters or Doctorate. Note that holding a Diploma or Trade qualification cannot qualify you for this stream.
• You should have applied for and obtained your first Australian student visa after November 2011.
This visa is relatively more beneficial than the Graduate Work Stream. Not only can you stay longer, but you also will not need to nominate an occupation present on a Skilled Occupation List (SOL).
Depending on your academic qualification, the length of stay will be as follows.
• 2 years for applicants with a Bachelor or taught Masters degree
• 3 years for applicants with research-based Masters
• 4 years for applicants holding a PhD
A Second Post-Study Work Stream is now being granted to applicants who have done their graduations from an institute located in a regional area of Australia. Depending on the institute’s location and where you live while holding the first Post-Study Work Stream, you can stay for 1 to 2 years in Australia.
For the two streams, the application procedure will be different. For professional help, you may hire a Perth migration agent.
What are the main eligibility requirements for this visa?
Apart from the stream-specific eligibility criteria, you also have to meet other requirements common to both streams.
• Your age should be below 50 years.
• Unless you are exempt, you must hold or should have held a valid Australian student visa in the last 6 months.
• Meeting the English language requirement is a crucial criterion that you must fulfil. Obtaining an overall score of 6 with a minimum score of 5 in each band of IELTS will prove your proficiency in English. Results of other English language tests like TOEFL iBT, PTE Academic, OET, and Cambridge Advanced English are also accepted.
• However, if you carry a passport of an English-speaking country like Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, Ireland, or New Zealand, you will be exempt from this condition.
• A valid health insurance cover is required for every Australian visa. Thus, you must show that adequate arrangements have been made for health insurance.
• Usually, international students in Australia must have OSHC (Overseas Student Health Cover). This insurance may be accepted at the time of application and during the application process. Still, when the Department makes its decision, you will need to have another insurance coverage. In that case, having OVHC (Overseas Visitor Health Cover) can be beneficial.
• You have to satisfy the Special Return criteria and Public Interest criteria.
• Like other Australian visas, 485 Subclass Visa also requires the applicants to meet the health criteria.
• Individuals who are included in the application and aged over 16 have to meet character requirements. You must show that you have applied for a check by the Australian Federal Police in the last one year.
• For each visa stream, you have to satisfy specific requirements.
What is the Australian study requirement?
To be eligible for this visa, one of the crucial requirements you must meet is the Australian visa requirement. We have already stated that applicants should have studied in Australia for at least 2 years.
The other requirements are as follows:-
• Applicants should have received a recognised degree (like Bachelor or Masters or PhD), Diploma, or a Trade Qualification. An Australian institute should have awarded the qualification certificate.
• Make sure that the course you have studied was registered with the CRICOS (Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students).
• You should have received your qualification in the last 6 months before the application.
• Many applicants become confused about the 2 years of study. According to the CRICOS, 2 years implies a minimum of 92 weeks of study, covering at least 16 months.
• The teaching language for the course should have been English.
• At the time of the application, the applicant must hold a valid Australian student visa.
Whom Can You Include In Your Visa Application?
Visa 485 allows the applicants to include close family members in their applications. You can include your partner or spouse, dependent or stepchildren, and your or your partner’s dependent relative. You will have the chance to add your children until the Department of Home Affairs decides on your visa application. Note that you cannot add any other family members.
What Are The Visa Processing Times And Costs?
For both the streams, the visa application fee is AUD1680. However, the processing time will vary from one stream to the other. For the Graduate Work Stream, 75% of applications get processed within 17 months, while the process takes about 19 months to complete for 90% of applications. The processing time is relatively shorter in the case of the Post-Study Work Stream. It is 9 months and 14 months for 75% and 90% of applications, respectively.
Who Can Help You?
There are several Immigration Agent Perth that has been serving their clients for several decades. Before applying, you can complete their assessment form, and one of their representatives will respond to your queries. They can also assign a qualified migration agent in Perth who can guide you through the entire application.
