Changes To Australian Temporary Graduate 485 Visa Program Unveiled: What You Need To Know!

The Australian Government has shared plans to update the Temporary Graduate visa programs in its latest Migration Strategy. These updates are set to start on July 1, 2024, if the necessary legal changes are approved.

Changes in the Graduate Work stream:

• It will be called the Post-Vocational Education Workstream.
• People applying must be under 35 years old (except for Hong Kong and British National Overseas passport holders, who can be under 50).
• You need to have an associate degree, diploma, or trade qualification related to a specific job on the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List.
• If you have a higher degree like a bachelor's or above, you can't apply for this stream anymore.
• You can stay for up to 18 months, but Hong Kong or British National Overseas passport holders might stay for up to 5 years.

Changes in the Post-Study Work stream:

• It will be called the Post-Higher Education Workstream.
• People applying must be under 35 years old (except for Hong Kong and British National Overseas passport holders, who can be under 50).
• The special 2-year extension for certain degrees will stop.
• The length of stay depends on your degree:
• Bachelor's degree: up to 2 years
• Master's degree: up to 2 years for coursework and extended programs, up to 3 years for research-based programs.
• Doctoral degree (PhD): up to 3 years.

For Indian nationals, there are different stay periods based on agreements between Australia and India. - Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (AI-ECTA), remain as:

• Bachelor degree (including honours) - up to 2 years
• Bachelor degree (with first class honours in STEM, including ICT) - up to 3 years
• Masters (coursework, extended and research) - up to 3 years
• Doctoral degrees (PhD) - up to 4 years.