How do I apply for the Temporary Graduate Visa (SC 485)?

To be generally eligible for this visa, you must

• Be under 50 years of age

• Hold a student visa or have held a student visa during the last 6 months

• Meet the Australian study requirement

• Have a nominated occupation in the MLTSSL

• Have a degree, diploma or trade qualification closely related to the nominated occupation

• Have a positive skill assessment

• Have overall 6 score for IELTS with at least a score of 5 for each band or any equivalent English language proficiency test with similar scores

• Meet health and character requirements

The Temporary Graduate Visa SC 485 has 4 streams from which you can apply through. They are:

1. Graduate Work stream

2. Post-Study Work stream

3. Second Post-Study Work stream

4. Replacement stream

It’s important that you select the correct stream depending on your circumstances for a successful visa outcome. 

With the release of the new Migration Strategy 2024 new changes have been proposed to the SC 485 visa. The government would introduce new streams, they would be the "Post-Vocational Education Work" and "Post-Higher Education Work." streams. And the "Replacement Stream" of the Temporary Graduate visa's will be abolished. 

If you want to apply to the Graduate Work Stream you should in the least have a diploma or a trades qualification to be eligible. Once you are granted a visa in this stream, you will be eligible for a post study work right duration of maximum 18 months.

If you are applying for the Post-Study Work Stream, you should in the least have an eligible degree which can be a bachelors, masters or doctoral from an Australian education provider that is CRICOS-registered. The length of you post study work that you get will depend on the qualification that you possess. You will get 2 years of post study work rights if you have a bachelors. You will get 3 years if you have a masters by coursework or masters by research. Finally you will get 4 years of post study work rights if you have a PhD. These lengths have been proposed to change by 2024 where the post study work rights will be shortened.

To be eligible for the Second Post-Study Work Stream you must have studied with an Australian education provider in a regional area. While you are undertaking your studies with the Australian education provider in the designated regional area, you must have lived and worked in the designated regional area. If you have lived, worked and studied in the designated regional area you will be eligible for an extra 1- 2 year post study work rights.

To be eligible for the Replacement Stream you must have a temporary graduate visa which was granted to you before 15 December 2021 and you must have lost time on your visa as a result of Australia's COVID-19 travel restrictions. You must apply for this visa before 1 january 2027. The post study work rights length will vary from 18 months to 6 years depending on the department’s discretion. 

The Australian Study requirement is about meeting the criteria set out by the department during your study in Australia. You must essentially

• Have a degree, diploma or a trade qualification

• Have a CRICOS-registered course

• Have successfully completed all course requirements

• Course be taught in English

• The course must be for at least two academic years (92) weeks

• Complete the course in Australia in not less than 16 calendar months

• Have held an Australian visa that allowed to study.

For migration purposes, the majority of Australia's areas outside of the country's three largest cities; Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane are categorized as designated regional areas. There are two categories of regional areas Category 2 and Category 3.

Category 2 have ‘Cities and Major Regional Centres’ of Perth, Adelaide, the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast, Canberra, Newcastle/Lake Macquarie, Wollongong/Illawarra, Geelong and Hobart.

Anyone who belong to the Category 2 will enjoy benefits of priority processing of their visas, access to regional occupation list and get an extra year a on a post-study work visa if you have a degree.

Category 3 have ‘Regional Centres and Other Regional Areas’ with dedicated 11,200 regional places. The post codes can be accessed here.

Individuals who belong to Category 3 will enjoy the benefits same as individuals in Category 2. They will have additional benefits like an extra 2 year on a post-study work visa if you have a degree and have priority in negotiating region-specific Designated Area Migration Agreements (DAMAs).

• Identity documents

• Academic documents

  • Transcripts

  • Completion letter from the Australian education institution

• English language proficiency documents

  • IELTS/PTE/TOEFL etc

• Health insurance documents

  • Overseas Visitor Health Cover

  • Medicare card or proof of your enrolment with Medicare

• Skill Assessment documents

• Character documents

  • Police certificates from each country you've resided in for 12 months or more during the past 10 years.

  • Police certificate from AFP

  • Form 80- Personal particulars for character assessment

  • Form 1221 -Additional personal particulars information

• Family documents

  • Marriage certificate or de facto registration certificate

  • Passports of your spouse/de factor partner and children

  • Birth certificates of your children

You must apply online for this visa

1. Create an account or log in to ImmiAccount

2. Select the visa type

3. Select the visa stream

4. Fill the application

5. Attach the required documents

6. Pay the application charge

7. Submit the application