485 Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485) – Post-Higher Education Work stream

At a Glance

Item	Details
Visa name	Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485)
Stream	Post-Higher Education Work stream
Purpose	Recent Australian degree graduates
Stay	Usually 2–3 years
Cost	From AUD5,750
Apply from	Australia only, not immigration clearance
Eligibility timing	Degree awarded within six months
Age	Usually 35 or under
Work rights	Work temporarily; find own employment
Study	Study permitted
Medicare	Not stated in the source
Health insurance	Required throughout stay
Travel facility	Multiple entries while valid
Citizenship	Not stated in the source
Family sponsorship	Not stated in the source
Family members	Include family; later subsequent entrants
Visa record	Digitally linked to passport
Visa extension	Cannot be extended

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Purpose

This temporary visa allows international students who recently completed an eligible Australian degree to live, work and study in Australia after graduating.

Stay

The visa starts on the grant date.

Qualification	Stay period
Bachelor degree, including honours	2 years
Masters coursework or extended	2 years
Masters research	3 years
Doctoral degree	3 years

A Graduate Diploma usually gives 2 years, but may provide longer stay where previous related study would have received a longer period.

Indian nationals under AI-ECTA

Qualification	Stay period
Bachelor degree, including honours	2 years
First-class honours STEM/ICT bachelor	3 years
Any Masters degree	3 years
Doctoral degree	4 years

Hong Kong and British National Overseas passport holders may stay up to 5 years.

The visa cannot be extended. You may be eligible for a Second Post-Higher Education Work stream visa or another skilled work visa.

Eligibility

You must:

• Be in Australia, but not in immigration clearance, when applying.
• Hold an eligible Student visa, or have held a Student visa within the previous 6 months and now hold a substantive visa, Bridging Visa A or Bridging Visa B.
• Have completed your course within 6 months before applying.
• Have been awarded an eligible degree within the 6 months immediately before applying.
• Meet the Temporary Graduate visa study requirement.
• Have studied with a CRICOS-registered Australian education provider offering degree-level programs.
• Hold adequate health insurance for yourself and all applicants.
• Meet health and character requirements.
• Provide evidence of required English language ability.
• Have no outstanding Australian Government debt, or have arranged repayment.
• Sign the Australian Values Statement if aged 18 or older.

The Department considers immigration history. A past visa cancellation or refusal may affect eligibility.

Age

You must usually be 35 years or younger when applying.

You may be under 50 when applying if you:

• Use a Masters by research or Doctoral Degree to meet the study requirement; or
• Hold a Hong Kong or British National Overseas passport.

You cannot be granted this visa again as a primary applicant if you previously held a subclass 485 or 476 visa as a primary applicant. Previous secondary applicants may be eligible to apply as primary applicants.

Eligible qualifications

Eligible qualifications include:

• Bachelor degree or Bachelor honours degree
• Masters degree: coursework, extended or research
• Doctoral degree: research, professional or higher doctoral

A Graduate Diploma is eligible only where it was completed in the same or next academic year as an eligible qualification and is related to that qualification.

English language

You can prove English by holding a valid passport from:

• United Kingdom
• United States
• Canada
• New Zealand
• Republic of Ireland

Otherwise, provide a specified English test result taken within 12 months before applying.

For tests taken on or after 7 August 2025, minimum standard scores include:

Test	Minimum overall score
CELPIP General	8
IELTS Academic or General Training	6.5
LANGUAGECERT Academic	67
MET	58
OET	1310
PTE Academic	55
TOEFL iBT	81

Each test also has minimum scores for listening, reading, writing and speaking.

Hong Kong and British National Overseas passport holders have lower minimum English scores. For tests taken on or after 7 August 2025, examples include IELTS 6, PTE Academic 47 and TOEFL iBT 67.

IELTS One Skill Retake and MET Single Section Retake are accepted if completed before application lodgement.

Cost

The main applicant charge is AUD5,750.

Additional charges apply for each family member. Subsequent entrants, including children born offshore, must pay the full Visa Application Charge.

Other possible costs include:

• Health examinations
• Police certificates
• Biometrics

The visa is exempt from the Subsequent Temporary Application Charge.

Pacific Island and Timor-Leste concession

A lower visa charge applies to eligible primary applicants holding a valid passport from:

• Federated States of Micronesia
• Fiji
• Kiribati
• Nauru
• Palau
• Papua New Guinea
• Republic of the Marshall Islands
• Samoa
• Solomon Islands
• Timor-Leste
• Tonga
• Tuvalu
• Vanuatu

Eligible family members receive the lower charge based on the primary applicant’s passport.

Family provisions

You can include family-unit members in your application if they are in Australia when you apply.

Before a decision, you may add only dependent children. You cannot add other family-unit members after lodgement.

After grant, eligible family members may apply as subsequent entrants from inside or outside Australia. They must meet health and character requirements.

Partner evidence

Provide your partner’s identity and character documents.

• Married applicants: marriage certificate or evidence the marriage is valid in Australia.
• De facto applicants: evidence of the relationship.
• De facto relationships generally require at least 12 months before application, unless registered by a participating Australian state or territory.

Dependent children

Children aged 18 or under require birth certificates, family-book evidence or adoption papers.

Children over 18 must generally be under 23 and dependent on you or your partner. A child aged 23 or over must be unable to support themselves because of physical or cognitive limitations and be dependent.

For a child under 18 migrating without a person with legal parental responsibility, provide consent using Form 1229, a statutory declaration, relevant court orders, or evidence home-country law permits migration.

Required documents

Provide clear colour scans or photographs of all documents. Translate non-English documents into English and include both originals and translations. Documents do not need certification.

Key evidence includes:

• Current passport biodata pages
• National identity card, if held
• Name-change evidence, if applicable
• Evidence of successful course completion and eligible study
• English-language evidence
• Adequate health-insurance evidence
• AFP check application evidence
• Form 80 and Form 1221
• Family relationship and dependency evidence, where applicable

For health insurance, provide a signed insurer letter, Medicare card or Medicare enrolment evidence, or other health-insurance evidence.

Character documents

Applicants aged 16 or older must show they applied for an Australian Federal Police check within the 12 months ending the day before visa application lodgement.

The AFP check must be:

• Applied for no earlier than 12 months before lodgement.
• Applied for no later than the day before lodgement.
• A complete disclosure National Police Certificate.
• Issued by the Australian Federal Police.
• For “Immigration/Citizenship – Australia Name Check Only”.

State or territory police certificates, standard disclosure certificates and certificates from other organisations are not accepted for this requirement.

You may also be asked for overseas police certificates or military records.

How to apply

You must apply online through ImmiAccount.

1. Confirm course completion and eligibility.
2. Check current visa conditions in VEVO.
3. Arrange health examinations if required.
4. Gather documents and translations.
5. Apply online through ImmiAccount.
6. Attach all required evidence.
7. Pay the Visa Application Charge for every applicant.

At lodgement, attach evidence of:

• Successful course completion
• Required English level
• AFP check application for applicants aged over 16
• Adequate health insurance for all applicants

Choose the visa stream carefully. You cannot change streams after applying.

A valid application must be lodged within the eligibility period. Late applications cannot be accepted. Applications are received in Australian Eastern Standard Time or Australian Eastern Daylight Time, where applicable.

Processing

Use the visa processing time guide for recently decided applications. Processing times are indicative only.

Applications may take longer if they are incomplete, further information is required, or information must be verified.

The Department will not process an application until the correct Visa Application Charge is paid.

You can be inside or outside Australia, but not in immigration clearance, when the decision is made.

Rights and conditions

With this visa, you can:

• Live in Australia temporarily.
• Work in Australia temporarily.
• Study in Australia.
• Travel in and out of Australia while valid.

You must find your own employment.

You and your family members must obey Australian laws and all visa conditions. Check conditions in VEVO or your visa grant letter.

Health insurance

You and all family members must maintain adequate health insurance for the entire stay.

Some countries have reciprocal healthcare agreements with Australia. See Services Australia for details.

Travel

The visa has multiple-entry travel permission. You may leave and return to Australia as often as you want while the visa remains valid.

Time outside Australia does not extend the visa.

After applying

Stay lawful while the application is being processed. If your current visa expires, a bridging visa may allow lawful stay while processing continues.

Do not cancel your current visa. Cancelling it may leave you unlawfully in Australia.

Tell the Department promptly about changes to:

• Address, telephone number, email or passport
• Relationship status
• Birth of a child
• Application errors
• Withdrawal of the application

Use Form 1023 to report incorrect answers. Use Form 1022 to notify the Department of a child born after application but before decision.

Important warnings

• A “No Further Stay” condition 8534 or 8503 may prevent online application. Submit an ImmiAccount technical support form.
• The Department does not provide pre-lodgement assessments of eligibility.
• Provide complete and accurate information when lodging; a decision may be made using the evidence supplied.
• A refused application does not result in a Visa Application Charge refund.
• If granted, consider withdrawing any other undecided visa applications to avoid being granted a different visa.
• The visa is digitally linked to your passport; no passport label is issued.