SUBCLASS 485 GRADUATE WORK STREAM VISA REQUIREMENTS

For international students who graduate with skills and qualifications that relate to an eligible occupation.

• Skills and Qualifications Requirements
• General Requirements
• Application Process Requirements
• Stage 1: Initial Eligibility Assessment
• Stage 2: Skills Assessment
• Stage 3: Visa Application

Skills & Qualifications

At the time that you lodge your visa application, you must:

• nominate an occupation that is included on the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL) – Find these lists available here
• have applied to have your skills assessed by the appropriate Australian skills assessing authority as suitable for your nominated occupation

• in the last 6 months have completed one or more qualifications that are closely related to your nominated occupation, following at least 2 years of study in Australia

General

You must also:

• be under 50 years of age
• have the required level of English proficiency.
• hold a valid passport issued by the UK, USA, Canada, New Zealand or the Republic of Ireland (and you are a citizen of that country) OR
• an IELTS overall test score of at least 6.0 (with a minimum of 5.0 in EACH test component) OR
• an OET test score of at least B in EACH test component OR
• a TOEFL iBT overall test score of at least 64 (with a minimum of 4 for listening, 4 for reading, 14 for writing and 14 for speaking) OR
• a PTE overall test score of at least 50(with a minimum of 36 in EACH test component) OR
• a CAE test score of at least 169 (with a minimum of 154 in EACH test component)

• have made adequate arrangements for health insurance during your stay in Australia

APPLICATION PROCESS

Stage 1: Initial Eligibility Assessment

The first step that we will take is to conduct an initial assessment of your eligibility for this visa. This involves reviewing your recent study, English language and other circumstances, to establish whether or not you are likely to meet the relevant requirements.

As part of this initial eligibility assessment, we will consider which MLTSSL occupation(s) you are likely to be able to nominate, and whether or not you are potentially eligible for a positive skills assessment from the relevant assessing authority for that occupation.

Stage 2: Skills Assessment

Should our initial assessment indicate that you are eligible for a positive skills assessment and meet the minimum requirements for this visa, we will prepare your skills assessment application.

For each skilled occupation listed on the MLTSSL, the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has specified an assessing authority that may carry out skills assessments for that occupation. Only a skills assessment conducted by the relevant assessing authority will be accepted by the Department of Home Affairs in support of a visa application.

We will provide you with a full list of the information and documents required to support your application. When you have provided the necessary details and documents, along with the required assessment fee, we will lodge your application with the applicable skills assessing authority.

Stage 3: Visa Application

Once your skills assessment application has been lodged, we will prepare your visa application and lodge it with the Department of Home Affairs for assessment. The main criterion is that you meet the requirements referred to above. In addition, you must apply for an Australian Federal Police clearance and make bookings to undergo the necessary health checks before your application is lodged.

Should your application be successful, you will be granted a visa allowing you to live and work in Australia for 18 months.

If you are considering doing your subclass 485 visa, we recommend booking a consultation first so that we can assess your case and let you know what your best course of action is! This will help you to gain clarity and peace of mind moving forward!