TemporaryGraduateVisa—Subclass485

Most people arrive at this visa through a search result rather than a migration plan, so it's worth being precise about what it actually does. It suits international students who have recently completed an eligible qualification at an Australian institution and want to stay on to work without an employer sponsor, a state nomination or a points test.

What the visa is built to do shapes everything that follows: the evidence you'll need, the conditions attached to the grant, where you can live and work, and whether you'll have to apply again later.

Post-Higher Education Work covers degrees and higher qualifications; Post-Vocational Education Work covers associate degrees, diplomas and trade qualifications tied to a listed occupation; Second Post-Higher Education Work extends regional graduates. You choose one at application and cannot change streams afterwards. It is the Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485) — a post-study work visa for international students who have recently completed an eligible qualification at an Australian institution. It grants unrestricted work rights with no employer sponsor, no state nomination and no points test.

The practical result of a grant is this: a temporary visa with unrestricted work rights for the period set by your stream — up to 18 months on the Post-Vocational Education Work stream, usually 2 to 3 years on the Post-Higher Education Work stream, and a further 1 to 2 years on the Second Post-Higher Education Work stream, with up to 5 years for Hong Kong and British National Overseas passport holders. The grant does not itself lead to permanent residence, but it is the standard bridge to the 189, 190, 491, 482 and 186 pathways.

Every one of these has to be met on its own. There's no averaging out, and a strong result elsewhere won't cover a gate you've missed.

• Be aged 35 years or under when you apply, subject to limited exceptions
• Hold an eligible visa and have held a Student visa in the six months before applying
• Hold a recent qualification from a CRICOS-registered course that meets the Temporary Graduate visa study requirement
• Apply under the stream your qualification level supports — Post-Higher Education Work, Post-Vocational Education Work or Second Post-Higher Education Work
• Provide evidence of the required level of English with the application
• Provide evidence of adequate health insurance for every applicant when you apply
• Provide evidence that you have applied for an Australian Federal Police check when you apply
• Meet the health and character requirements for yourself and every included family member

The qualification must come from a CRICOS-registered course and meet the Temporary Graduate visa study requirement, including duration and the Australian study component. Verify this against your transcript and CoE history before preparing anything else. You must be aged 35 years or under when you apply, hold an eligible visa and have held a Student visa in the last 6 months, have a recent qualification from a CRICOS-registered course, apply under the stream your qualification supports, and attach evidence of the required English level, adequate health insurance for all applicants and an Australian Federal Police check application.

The order matters more than most people expect. A skills assessment and an English result both take months, and neither can be arranged after an invitation arrives - so start with whichever constraint is tightest, because that's the one setting your timeline.

Documentation decides most outcomes, because the case officer can only weigh what's in front of them. The evidence set for this pathway usually includes:

• A valid passport for the primary applicant and every included family member
• The completion letter and academic transcript for the qualifying course
• Confirmation of Enrolment history covering the course relied on
• Evidence of the Australian study component and the course duration
• The current visa grant notice showing you hold an eligible visa
• English test results meeting the required level, still valid at lodgement
• Evidence of adequate health insurance covering all applicants
• Evidence that an Australian Federal Police check has been applied for
• Overseas police certificates for countries where you have lived, where required
• Health examination results from a panel physician where requested
• Marriage certificate, relationship evidence or birth certificates for included family members
• Certified translations of any document that is not in English

Read your file the way a stranger would. If a case officer has to reconcile two spellings of a name, an unexplained gap in employment or a reference that doesn't match the payslip, you'll be asked for more evidence - and that resets part of the assessment clock. Consistency is worth more than sheer quantity.

The government charge is from AUD $5,750 for the primary applicant on the Post-Higher Education Work and Post-Vocational Education Work streams, and from AUD $2,265 on the Second Post-Higher Education Work stream. A partner and dependent children are charged in addition, and limited cost concessions apply for eligible Pacific Island and Timor-Leste citizens. Beyond the government charge, budget for the Australian Federal Police check, health examinations charged per person, an English test sitting, health insurance for the full period, certified translations and any professional fee. Charges are indexed on 1 July each year, so confirm the current schedule before you lodge.

Two kinds of cost behave quite differently, and mixing them up is what wrecks most budgets. The government charge is fixed, published and unavoidable, and it moves on the Department's schedule rather than yours. Everything else - assessment, testing, medicals, clearances, translations, professional fees - depends on your circumstances and your choices.

The government charge is from AUD $5,750 for the primary applicant on the Post-Higher Education Work and Post-Vocational Education Work streams, and from AUD $2,265 on the Second Post-Higher Education Work stream. Additional charges apply for a partner and dependent children, and charges are indexed each 1 July.

Build the budget line by line rather than from a single headline figure, then add a buffer. A repeated English test, an extra police clearance or a second instalment falling due later are all common. Where a pathway runs in two stages, compare the total across both - a cheaper first step can end up costing more overall.

Charges are indexed and revised, so treat every figure here as a planning guide and confirm the current schedule with the Department of Home Affairs before you pay anything.

The Department publishes a processing time guide showing recent decision times for the subclass, which is a historical indicator rather than a commitment for your application. What you control is the front end. The graduate visa is unusually time-sensitive because the six-month Student visa window does not pause: if the Department requests further information, the deadline for lodging from an eligible status has already passed. The Australian Federal Police certificate can take weeks to arrive after the application receipt, so starting it early — and arranging health insurance for every applicant before lodgement rather than after — is what keeps the application inside its window.

It's worth separating two things that often get confused. Preparation is largely yours to control - gathering evidence, finishing a skills assessment or English test, obtaining clearances, assembling a decision-ready file. Assessment is not: it depends on how many applications sit ahead of yours and what checks your case triggers.

Up to 18 months on the Post-Vocational Education Work stream, usually 2 to 3 years on the Post-Higher Education Work stream depending on your qualification, and a further 1 to 2 years on the Second Post-Higher Education Work stream based on regional study and residence. Hong Kong and British National Overseas passport holders may stay 5 years.

The encouraging part is that effort spent on preparation pays off during assessment. A complete application with consistent evidence avoids the requests for further information that reset part of that timeline, and time-sensitive documents like medicals and clearances can be sequenced so they're still valid when a decision is made. If the pathway is capped or queued, remember the wait reflects the number of places available, not the quality of your file.

Published times are historical medians rather than promises, so check the Department's current estimate for your subclass before you plan around a date.

The sequence carries as much weight as the content, because some steps have to be complete before the next is even possible. A workable order looks like this:

1. 1Confirm which of the three streams your qualification level and study location support, since the stream cannot be changed after application
2. 2Test the course against the Temporary Graduate visa study requirement, including duration and the Australian study component
3. 3Apply for the Australian Federal Police check and keep the application receipt for lodgement
4. 4Arrange adequate health insurance covering every applicant on the application
5. 5Sit or confirm an English test that meets the current requirement and remains valid at your intended lodgement date
6. 6Assemble the qualification, identity and study-component evidence so names and dates agree across every document
7. 7Lodge through ImmiAccount while you still hold an eligible visa, then respond to any request for information promptly
8. 8Once granted, use the unrestricted work rights deliberately to build the skilled employment and English evidence a later permanent residence application needs

Most of the avoidable delay traces back to the same 7 mistakes:

• Applying under the wrong stream for the qualification actually completed
• Assuming a course meets the study requirement without checking duration and the Australian study component
• Lodging after the six-month Student visa window has closed
• Treating the police check application receipt as the last item rather than the first
• Arranging health insurance for the primary applicant only and omitting family members
• Letting an English result expire between the test date and lodgement
• Planning no pathway beyond the grant and losing the work-experience window

This is an evidence-led process, not a form-filling exercise. Each claim needs support a case officer can check, and the cheapest way to get there is to decide what the evidence will be before you start writing anything.