Changes were made to the
Temporary Skilled Graduate (subclass 485) visa, from 23 March 2013.
You can apply for Four year temporary graduate skilled visa subclass 485 in the Post-Study Work stream if you:
Your course must:
You can apply for Four year temporary graduate skilled visa subclass 485 in the Post-Study Work stream if you:
- applied for, and were granted, your first student visa to Australia on or after 5 November 2011
- have completed an eligible qualification from an Australian educational institution
- meet the two year Australian study requirement in the past six months.
First student visa
This stream is only available to you if you applied for, and were granted, your first Student visa to Australia on or after 5 November 2011. If you applied for and were granted any Student visa to Australia (including subclasses 560, 562, 570, 571, 572, 573, 574, 575, 576 or 580) before 5 November 2011, as either the main applicant or the family member of an applicant, you will not be able to apply in this stream.Qualifications
In the past six months you must have completed one or more of the following qualifications at an Australian educational institution:- bachelor degree
- bachelor degree with honours
- masters by coursework degree
- masters (extended) degree
- masters by research degree
- doctoral degree.
When is your course completed?
Qualifications are
considered to have been completed when your educational institution
publicly notifies you that you have met the requirements for the award
of the qualification, for example, in a completion letter. Submission
of a thesis, or completion of exams, is not sufficient.
This date
should not be confused with the date of conferral of your award. The
date of conferral is the date that you actually receive your degree,
diploma or trade qualification, for example, at a graduation ceremony.
Australian study requirement
In the six months before you apply, you must meet the Australian study requirement. This means that you must have completed one or more courses registered on the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students (CRICOS).Your course must:
- result in the award of a bachelors, masters or doctoral degree
- be conducted in English
- be at least two academic years (92 weeks) duration
- be lawfully completed in no less than 16 months
- be completed at an Australian educational institution in Australia.
English language proficiency courses or enabling programs cannot be used to meet the Australian study requirement.
If you complete a graduate diploma or graduate certificate in a
packaged, nested or articulating course leading to an eligible
qualification, you can use that study towards meeting the two-year study
requirement. For example, you can count a Graduate Diploma in
Educational Studies leading to a Master of Education.
You can
only use study that leads to an eligible qualification. If you complete
a degree and then take a graduate diploma or graduate certificate
course, the diploma or certificate course cannot be used to meet the
two-year study requirement.
How does the duration of your course count towards this requirement?
You
can use CRICOS to find the registered duration of a course. The
department will use the same information. A course that is listed on
CRICOS as having a 92-week duration is considered to meet the
requirement of two academic years.
The department will credit you
only with the duration that is listed on CRICOS, even if you take
longer to complete your course. Failed subjects and parts of courses
taken outside Australia do not count.
If your educational
institution awards you credit towards a qualification on the basis of
prior learning, that credit may count towards meeting the two-year
requirement, but only if the prior learning was in Australia, was in a
CRICOS-registered course, and is used only once to meet the Australian
study requirement for a visa.
If you take overlapping courses for
separate qualifications (for example, a Masters in Finance and a
Masters in Accounting), the period of overlap can only be counted once
towards the two-year requirement.
You cannot count any studies
outside Australia towards the Australian study requirement. The only
courses you can count towards the Australian study requirement are
those that are completed in Australia.
Temporary Graduate (subclass 485) visa
Changes were made to the
Temporary Skilled Graduate (subclass 485) visa, from 23 March 2013.
This visa was renamed
the Temporary Graduate (subclass 485) visa.
Students may be eligible
to apply for a subclass 485 visa through either the Graduate Work stream or the
Post-Study Work stream, depending on their individual circumstances.
Information regarding
the subclass 485 visa is available.
All subclass 485 visa
applicants must meet the Australian study requirement in the six months immediately
prior to making their visa application, regardless of the stream that they are
assessed under.
The Australian study requirement
The Australian study
requirement has two equally important and related components. To meet this
requirement, students must have:
1) attained either a single
qualification requiring at least two academic years study or multiple qualifications
resulting in a total period of at least two academic years study; and
2) undertaken this study in
no less than 16 months.
For both streams of the
subclass 485 visa, the Australian study requirement must have been met in the
six months immediately before making a visa application.
Acceptable
courses
To meet this requirement,
the course/courses must also:
·
be registered through the Commonwealth Register of
Institutions and Course for Overseas Students (CRICOS)
·
have been successfully completed
·
have resulted in an eligible qualification (see page 3 for
further detail)
·
have had all instruction in English
·
have been completed while physically in Australia
·
have been completed while holding a visa allowing study in
Australia
·
be counted only once towards the Australian study
requirement.
English language
proficiency courses or enabling programs cannot be used to meet the Australian
study requirement.
Two
academic years study
Two academic years study
is defined as 92 weeks of study in a course or courses registered by CRICOS.
CRICOS determines a standard duration (number of weeks) for each course.
Students may take longer
to complete the course, but will only be credited with the number of weeks that
CRICOS determines as a standard duration. For example, if it takes a student 92
weeks to successfully complete a course that CRICOS says should take 78 weeks, they
will receive credit for 78 weeks only.
Only study that is
successfully completed counts towards the two academic years. Failed subjects
will not be considered.
Students may meet the two
year academic study requirement when completing a course that is longer than
two years. For example, if a course is CRICOS registered for 138 weeks (three
years) and consists of 24 equally weighted units, two academic years will be
met when 16 units of that course have been successfully completed.
Credits and
exemptions
Credits for prior
learning may reduce the amount of study undertaken. Credit granted on the basis
of study undertaken in Australia in a course registered with CRICOS may
contribute towards meeting the Australian study requirement, but only once.
The credited units cannot
be counted towards meeting the Australian study requirement if they are already
being used to meet the requirement as part of another course or if they were granted
on the basis of study undertaken either overseas or within Australia in a
non-CRICOS registered course.
Minimum of
16 months
The Australian study
requirement cannot be met in less than 16 months.
This period begins when
the study commences (generally from the start of lectures and excluding
orientation periods) to the date at which all academic requirements have been
completed.
Overlap of
qualifications
Students may undertake
overlapping qualifications. For example, students applying under the Graduate
Work stream of the subclass 485 visa may complete a Diploma in Finance and then
a Diploma in Accounting where two units in the last qualification have been
granted as credit from the earlier qualification.
Where qualifications
overlap, periods of study cannot be counted more than once.
If a student completes
more than one qualification, but uses only the most recent qualification to
meet the Australian study requirement, then any credit received in the most
recent qualification from the previous qualification(s) will count towards
meeting the Australian study requirement.
The actual period of study
within the previous qualification(s) on which the credits were based may also
be used to meet the 16 month requirement.
Study
outside Australia
Study undertaken outside
Australia cannot be used to satisfy the Australian study requirement. However,
if a student undertook some study overseas but nevertheless completed at least
two academic years of study in no less than 16 months in Australia in a CRICOS
registered course, they can still meet the Australian study requirement.
Example
An applicant who
undertook a three year, six semester Bachelor degree following the study
pattern mentioned below will have completed two academic years study in
Australia:
·
semester 1 outside Australia
·
semester 2 in Australia
·
semester 3 in Australia
·
semester 4 in Australia
·
semester 5 outside Australia
·
semester 6 in Australia
The pattern of study does
not matter as long as the Australian study requirement is met.
Completion
date
Subclass 485 visa
applications must be lodged within six months of the date of course
completion.
The date of course completion
is the first date on which the educational institution publicly notifies the
student that they have met the requirements for the award of their degree,
diploma or trade qualification. This notification can occur by:
·
letter
·
publication in a newspaper
·
publication on the internet
·
email
·
bulletin board at the tertiary institution.
This date should not be
confused with the date of conferral of award. The date of conferral is the date
that the student actually receives their qualification, for example, at a
graduation ceremony.
Applying under the Post-Study Work stream
The following provides
information about the Australian study requirement specific to subclass 485
visa applicants under the Post-Study Work stream.
Eligible
qualifications
To meet the Australian
study requirement, the course/courses must have resulted in an eligible
qualification. The eligible qualifications differ depending on which stream of
the subclass 485 visa the applicant selects.
For the purposes of
applying for a subclass 485 visa under the Post-Study Work stream, only study
that results in the conferral of an eligible degree level qualification will be
considered. An eligible degree level qualification is a:
·
Bachelor degree
·
Bachelor (honours) degree
·
Masters by coursework degree
·
Masters (extended) degree
·
Masters by research degree
·
Doctoral degree
Study resulting in a
diploma level qualification or trade qualification will not be considered.
As an example a student
may complete a one year Bachelor degree followed by a one year Masters degree
and meet the Australian study requirement under the Post-Study Work stream,
provided the other components of the requirement are satisfied.
Study must
be at a certain level
Only study undertaken at
Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) Level 7 or above (Bachelor degree
level or above), which leads to the conferral of an eligible degree level
qualification, may be considered towards meeting the Australian study
requirement. An eligible degree level qualification is a Bachelor degree,
Masters by coursework degree, Masters (extended) degree, Masters by research
degree or Doctoral degree.
This means that degree
level courses which are packaged with a Graduate Certificate or Graduate
Diploma course may be considered, provided they otherwise meet the Australian
study requirement.
Example
Students who complete a
Graduate Diploma in Educational Studies which articulates (or leads) into a
Master of Education are able to use both the study at the Graduate Diploma and
at the Masters level towards meeting this requirement.
Example
Students who complete a Bachelor of
Arts and then a Graduate Diploma in Asia-Pacific Studies will only have study
undertaken at the Bachelor degree level considered, as the Graduate Diploma did
not contribute towards the conferral of an eligible degree level qualification.
Study must be at an
eligible education provider
All courses used to
satisfy the Australian study requirement must have been undertaken at an
eligible Australian university or any other education provider accredited to
offer degree level programs.
Applying under the Graduate Work stream
The following provides
information about the Australian study requirement specific to subclass 485
visa applicants under the Graduate Work stream.
Eligible
qualifications
To meet the Australian
study requirement, the course/courses must have resulted in an eligible
qualification. The eligible qualifications differ depending on which stream of
the subclass 485 visa the applicant selects.
For the purposes of
applying for a subclass 485 under the Graduate Work stream, the course/courses
must have resulted in a degree, diploma or trade qualification. For example, a
student may complete two consecutive Diploma level courses and satisfy the
Australian study requirement under the Graduate Work stream, provided the other
components of the requirement are satisfied.
Qualifications
must be closely related to nominated occupation
The qualification(s)
completed must be closely related to the student’s nominated skilled
occupation. This means the subject matter and the skills gained from the qualifications
can be applied at the level achieved in the nominated skilled occupation.
Example
Acceptable combinations
of study and nominated occupations include:
·
an applicant who nominates ‘Pharmacist’ as their skilled occupation
and completes a Bachelor of Pharmacy in Australia
·
an applicant who nominates ‘Air-conditioning and Mechanical
Services Plumber’ as their skilled occupation who has completed a Certificate
III in Plumbing and a Diploma of Plumbing and Services in Australia
Example
A combination of study
and nominated occupation that would not be acceptable:
·
An applicant’s nominated occupation is Registered Nurse but
they satisfied the Australian study requirement on the basis of having
completed a Bachelor of Commerce.
