1. High Refusal Rate
Most people applying for the Temporary Graduate visa might think of it as an extremely easy process with a guarantee of a visa. Though the truth is that temporary graduate visas have an extremely high refusal rate when compared to many other visas such as student visas and employer sponsored skilled visas.
The major reason behind the huge refusal rate is the fact that there is a “time of application” requirement that must be met and if an application is lodged without all the requirements being fulfilled, there is a chance of the application being refused and cannot be repealed even in the event of applying to the Administrative Appeal Tribunal.
2. Importance of applying for the Australian Federal Police Clearance
It is a requirement to have an Australian Federal Police (AFN) National Police Check certificate which is less than 12 months old along with your 485 visa application or an evidence that an application has been made to acquire the clearance by including proof of the application been made for the AFP Check.
It is also essential to obtain and AFP Check for the secondary applicant (if you have a secondary applicant) along with the primary applicant’s visa application. This applies to secondary applicants who are 16 years or older.
3. Apply for Adequate Health Insurance
When an application is being submitted for the 485 visa, it is essential to provide proof that the primary applicant and every other applicant included has adequate health insurance in Australia.
You will need to provide any one of the following:
- A signed letter from a health insurance provider outlining the level and range of health cover
- A Medicare card or receipt of enrolment with Medicare (if eligible);
- If you are from a country with a reciprocal health care agreement with Australia and will be eligible for Medicare when you arrive here, evidence of adequate of health insurance, including travel insurance, to cover you until you enrol in Medicare.
If the applicant is a current student, they may provide evidence of their current Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) policy. It is important to note that OSHC policies are only valid at the time of the application because once a decision is made on the application, the applicant ceases to be a student.
If a decision is made on the application before the expiration of a person’s OSHC they would be required to arrange health insurance to meet the health requirements of the subclass 485 visa application. Non-OSHC insurance is just normal overseas visitor health cover.
Another thing to be noted is that if the applicant’s student visa is still valid and they haven’t applied for OSHC, the case officer will request one from them.
4. Apply Within 6 Months of Finishing Your Course
This is a point of great confusion amongst a great number of graduates regarding what determines the start date and the deadline to “apply within 6 months of finishing your course”. The start date is the date on which the results of the course get published or announced which ends up starting the six month period during which you may apply for the Subclass 485 visa.
Evidence of the start date can be found or stated in:
- in a letter addressed to you;
- on the Internet;
- in a newspaper; or
- on the educational institutions bulletin board.
5. English Requirements
The primary applicant is required to submit the evidence of their English skills at the time of the application. IELTS, OET, TOEFL, PTE Academic, and CAE results are all accepted.
The applicant is free from the requirement if they hold a valid passport from the UK, USA, Canada, New Zealand, or Ireland. Otherwise, you must provide evidence of your skills at the time of application. Test results must be a maximum of 3 years old on the day of the application, and 5 tests results are accepted.