485 Graduate Visa
The 485 Graduate Visa is for international students who have recently graduated from an Australian educational institution. This is a temporary visa for international students within Australia who are unable to meet the requirements for a permanent or provisional skilled visa. The visa is designed to provide former international students an opportunity to complete a post graduate professional year, gain skilled work experience and improve their English.
Eligibility
To be eligible for this visa the applicants nominated occupation must be on the current Skilled Occupations List, but you are not required to do the Points Test and there is no skills assessment (though you must have applied for it).
- be under the age of 45 when the application is lodged
- hold or have held an eligible student visa in the last 6 months
- nominate an occupation worth 50 or 60 points on the current Skilled Occupations List that is closely related to your skills and qualifications
- have APPLIED to have your skills assessed for your nominated occupation
- have met the Australian study requirement in the last 6 months and
- have a score of at least IELTS 6 in all components.
The Australian Study Requirement
To meet the Australian study requirement, applicants must complete a qualification awarded by an Australian educational institution as a result of a course or courses that are registered on the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students (CRICOS). The study must also comply with the following:
- involve a total of at least 2 academic years’ study (minimum 92 weeks) in Australia a and completed in no less than 16 calendar months;
- for which all study undertaken was in English.
- that were closely related to your nominated occupation and
- undertaken on a visa that allowed you to study in Australia
