The temporary Skilled Graduate Visa (Provisional) (Class VC) (Subclass 485) allows for the entry of recent international graduates to Australia for the purpose of living, studying or working in Australia on a temporary basis.

Highlights

• You must be in Australia to lodge a valid visa application unless a concession applies.
• This visa allows you to work, study and live in Australia.
• There are 2 different visa streams: Graduate Work and Post-study Work.
• This is a Temporary visa and allows you to stay in Australia temporary. The different visa streams determine the length of your visa.

Key Eligibility requirements

COMMON CRITERIA TO ALL STREAMS

• You must hold or have held an eligible student visa in the last 6 months unless a concession applies.
• You must demonstrate your English proficiency by achieving an overall score of at least 6 with a minimum score of 5 for each of the 4 components on the IELTS test. (Alternative tests can be used including OET, TOEFL iBT, PTE Academic, CAE). Holders of specified types of passports are exempt from this requirement.
• You must have adequate arrangements for health insurance.
• You must satisfy certain Public Interest criteria and Special Return criteria.
• You must meet health and character requirements including having applied for an Australian Federal Police check in the last 12 months.
• You must satisfy specific criteria relating to the visa stream you are applying for.

GRADUATE WORK STREAM

• You must have a skilled occupation on the relevant Medium and Long Term Strategic Skilled List (MLTSSL).
• You must satisfy the Australian Study requirement within the last 6 months unless a concession applies.
• Your qualifications must be closely related to your nominated occupation.
• You must have a positive skills assessment from the relevant skills assessing authority in relation to your nominated occupation.

POST-STUDY WORK STREAM

• You must hold or have held a relevant student visa which application was made on or after 5 November 2011. This visa must have been your first student visa.
• You must hold a Bachelor Degree, Bachelor (Honours) Degree, Masters by Coursework Degree, Masters by Research Degree, Masters (Extended) Degree or a Doctoral Degree.
• Your qualifications were awarded by an institution registered on the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students.
• You must satisfy the Australian Study requirement within the last 6 months unless a concession applies.

COVID-19 concessions are available to assist subclass 485 visa applicants comply with visa requirements such as the Australian Study Requirement.Please note that the above is not an exhaustive list of requirements. This content is for general information purposes only, it is not immigration advice and must not be construed as such.

While due care has been taken to ensure that the content is kept up-to-date and correct, the currency and thus accuracy of the information cannot be guarantee due to the frequent changes in migration law.