Prepare for Future Studies in Australia with Post-Study Graduate Visa 485

Suppose you have completed your graduation from an Australian institute and are now planning to extend your stay in Australia. In that case, the Temporary Graduate Visa 485 is the option you should go for. The Department of Home Affairs has designed this visa to allow graduates to live, study, and work in Australia for a temporary period.

The academic and work experience you will gain during this period can be instrumental in your permanent residence visa application. In this blog, we discuss all the details you must know before proceeding with the Visa Subclass 485 application.

What Are The Benefits Of Graduate Visa 485?

While staying with the Temporary Graduate subclass Visa 485, you can enjoy the following benefits.

• You can stay for 18 months to 4 years. The period of stay will depend on the stream you apply for and your academic qualifications.
• You can work for an Australian company or study in an Australian institute during this period.
• This visa also allows the holders to bring family members along with them.
• With the visa staying valid, you can travel in and out of Australia as many times as you wish.

What are the two streams under this visa?

485 Visa of Australia is divided into two streams – Graduate Work Stream and Post-Study Work Stream. Each stream has different eligibility criteria, so you must be very careful before you apply for study abroad.

Graduate Work Stream

Eligibility requirements for the Graduate Work Stream are as follows.

• You must have studied in Australia for at least 2 years and received a qualification in the end.
• You must hold a Diploma or Trade qualification to apply for this stream.
• Specifically for this stream, you should have proper skills in an occupation listed on the relevant list of skilled occupations. For that nominated occupation, you have to take a skills assessment.
• The course for which you have received your qualification should also align with the skilled occupation.
• The Graduate Work Stream lets a holder stay for 18 months in Australia.

Post-Study Work Stream

If you want to apply under this stream, the eligibility criteria are as follows.

• Unlike the Graduate Work Stream, holding a Bachelor’s, Master’s, or Ph.D. will make you eligible for this stream.
• You should have made your first Australian Student Visa 500 application and received the visa after November 2011.

Note: That you will neither need to nominate a skilled occupation nor go through any skills assessment for this stream.

How can the Post-Study Work Stream help you in your higher studies?

If your primary objective of staying back in Australia is higher studies, the Post-Study Work Stream is the best Graduate Visa 485 option to choose. Depending on the academic degree you hold, the period of stay will be as follows.

• If you hold a Bachelor’s or a taught Master’s, you can stay for 2 years in Australia.
• If you have completed a research-based Master’s, the visa will allow you to stay for 3 years more.
• Holding a Ph.D. will help you stay for 4 years.

Looking at this information, you can understand how much time you will have to extend your degree list and enrich your academic profile.

You have more to cheer for if you have studied in an institute situated in an Australian regional year because you can now apply for a Second Post-Study Work Stream. Depending on your institute’s regional area and where you have stayed while holding the first Post-Study Work Stream, you can stay for another 1 to 2 years. For specific application help, you can consult any registered migration agent in Adelaide.

What Are The General Eligibility Criteria For This Visa?

In addition to the stream-specific eligibility requirements, you must also consider common 485 Visa eligibility requirements.

• Your age should not be over 50.
• You should have held a valid student visa in the last 6 months before the visa application.
• You must have basic English language skills to be eligible for this visa.
• A valid health insurance coverage is necessary.
• Satisfying the Australian study requirement is a must. Under this requirement, you have to receive your qualification from an Australian institute. The course should have been registered with the CRICOS (Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students) and delivered over 2 academic years. As per CRICOS, 2 academic years equals 16 months or 92 weeks of study. You should also prove to have received your qualification in the last 6 months of the visa application.
• You should also meet the necessary health and character requirements.

What documents should you submit at the time of application?

For a complete application, submitting all the documents according to the 485 Graduate Visa checklist is necessary.

• Under identity documents, you have to submit copies of passport pages and a national identity card.
• Submitting relevant study documents is important for this visa. In addition to transcripts, you must also submit a course completion letter issued by your institute. This letter should include information like the date your course commenced, the date of completion of the course (the day your final graduation results were published), and the CRICOS code of the institute.
• You can submit the result of any internationally accepted English language test to prove you are fluent in English. A 6 overall band score in IELTS  with 5 in each band is the minimum requirement. Apart from IELTS, TOEFL iBT, OET, CAE, and PTE Academic results are also accepted.
• Skills assessment documents will be required if you apply for the Graduate Work Stream.
• If you have proper health insurance coverage at the time of application, you have to submit a signed letter issued by your health insurance provider.
• For the Subclass 485 Visa Australia, you have to submit a clearance certificate issued by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) as a character document. Even if you have not received the certification by the time you apply, you should have applied for the check.
• If you add other family members to the application, you must include the necessary documents. You have to submit relevant character documents, identity documents, English language documents, and documents confirming your relationship with your partner or spouse. For dependent children, you have to prove their financial dependency.

How long will it take for the visa to get processed?

The 485 Visa processing time is different for the two different streams. 75% of Graduate Work Stream applications take about 17 months to get processed, while 90% get completed within 19 months. But for the Post-Study Work Stream, the time is shorter. 75% of applications get processed within 9 months, while the procedure takes about 14 months for 90% of applications.

Final words

Because of the recent COVID-19 pandemic, several changes have been made to the Graduate Visa 485 application. Even if you were forced to study online outside Australia because of the travel restrictions imposed during the pandemic, you could apply for this visa. Only, you have to attach Form 1545 along with the application.

However, the application procedure may seem complicated, and in that case, it will be a good idea to take help from a registered Immigration Agent Adelaide. Australian migration agents can be contacted from any part of the world, so it will not be a problem if you make the application outside Australia.