If you have decided to study in Australia, the intention may have been to live and work in Australia after you have completed your studies. Working in Australia after graduation is an opportunity to gain valuable work experience. Thanks to subclass 485 visa that allows eligible students to live and work in Australia after their studies for up to 4 years.
The Government is focusing on international students and providing more and more incentives to students, to study in Australia. In 2008, the Australian government introduced the Temporary Graduate 485 visa.
The graduate visa was designed to allow international students who have graduated from universities and colleges to remain in Australia to work after their studies and may be to improve their English language skills further after graduating from an Australian institution. You may be eligible to apply for a temporary graduate visa within 6 months of completing your studies, allowing you to stay in Australia to live and work full time and that too without getting sponsored by an Australian business or without meeting any point test or work experience requirements.
To be eligible for the graduate visa:
- You must be under 50 years of age.
- Hold an eligible visa such as a Substantive visa or Bridging Visa A or B and held your student visa within 6 months period at the time of application for this visa.
- Have a recent qualification in a CRICOS-registered course that has been completed within 6 months prior to the date of visa application for this visa.
The temporary graduate visa has two streams:
- Graduate work stream – This stream is for international students who have recently graduated with skills and qualifications that are relevant to specific occupations. Your nominated occupation must be in the Medium and Long
Term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL) - Post-Study work stream – This stream is for international students who have recently graduated with a bachelor degree or higher from an Australian
institution. - Therefore to apply for a Graduate work stream you need to have a qualification relevant to the occupation on the MLTSSL skilled occupation list.
- To apply for a post-study work stream you do not need to nominate an occupation and therefore, no skill assessment is required. You just need to complete a bachelor or higher level degree in Australia.
- Also, please note that the maximum duration for Graduate Work Stream is 18 months, whereas for Post-study stream it ranges from 2 to 4 years depending upon the level of qualification completed in Australia.
- I have briefly explained the 485 visa and there are several other requirements. I sincerely hope that this gives you an overview of the visa subclass
After you have obtained your Graduate visa you can move to a permanent visa through appropriately planning. Some of the possible permanent residency pathway options could be 186 Direct Entry, 187, 189, 190, 489 or even through sub class 482 visa after meeting the requirement of 2 year post qualification full time work experience required for 482 visa, which can be gained while on 485 visa. Timing may be a crucial factor, so a proper planning is required from the beginning. We have helped several clients in achieving the outcome they wanted through strategic planning, If you are unsure, why not give us a call on 02 4626 1002 or book an obligation free appointment by writing to us at info@migrationcentreofaustralia.com.au
