Pathway

Australia Temporary Graduate Visa

Australia Residency

Last updated August 20, 2026

Pathway overview

At a glance

Australia's Temporary Graduate visa lets many recent international graduates live, study, and work in Australia after completing eligible Australian study.

Type: Post-study temporary residence
Study fit: Recent graduates of Australian institutions
Core requirements: Recent Student visa, eligible qualification, age fit, and evidence
What to know: Temporary route that can support later skilled planning
What it gives: Subclass 485 provides open work and study rights during the temporary stay and permits eligible family members.
Main limit: The 485 is not permanent residence and does not guarantee skilled migration.

Summary

The Temporary Graduate visa (Subclass 485) lets a recent graduate of Australian study live, work and study temporarily after completing an eligible CRICOS course. Since the 1 July 2024 reforms, the main streams are:

Post-Vocational Education Work — for an associate degree, diploma or trade qualification closely related to an occupation on the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List; and
Post-Higher Education Work — for an eligible bachelor, master's, doctoral or connected graduate-diploma qualification.

A Second Post-Higher Education Work stream may give an additional 1 or 2 years to eligible graduates who studied and then lived in designated regional Australia.

Eligibility

Most primary applicants must be 35 or younger when applying, be in Australia, hold or recently have held an eligible Student visa, complete the relevant qualification within 6 months before applying, satisfy the Australian study requirement, and provide required English, health-insurance and Australian Federal Police-check evidence at lodgment.

Age exceptions differ by stream:

a Post-Higher Education applicant using a master's by research or doctoral degree can be under 50;
Hong Kong and British National (Overseas) passport holders can generally be under 50 and may receive longer stays; and
the ordinary Post-Vocational applicant does not receive the research-degree exception.

Post-Vocational applicants need a nominated MLTSSL occupation and evidence that they have applied for, or obtained, the relevant skills assessment. The qualification must be closely related to that occupation.

Post-Higher Education applicants do not need an occupation or skills assessment. Current standard stays are 2 years for bachelor honors, master's coursework or master's extended; 3 years for master's research and doctoral degrees. Specific longer periods continue for qualifying Indian nationals under AI-ECTA. The former general "select degree" extra 2-year extension has ended.

What This Route Allows

Subclass 485 provides open work and study rights during the temporary stay and permits eligible family members. Post-Vocational stay is up to 18 months; Post-Higher Education is generally 2 or 3 years; the second regional stream is 1 or 2 years. The grant letter and VEVO provide the exact period.

The visa can provide time to gain experience and pursue employer-sponsored, points-tested or regional pathways, but each later visa must be qualified for separately.

What This Route Is Not

The 485 is not permanent residence and does not guarantee skilled migration. The applicant must find their own employment, and work outside the nominated field does not by itself create points or a later sponsorship route.

It is highly time-sensitive. A late application, wrong stream, missing English result, missing AFP application evidence or missed 6-month qualification/Student-visa window can be fatal. Home Affairs says the stream cannot be changed after application.

Australian study outside the correct qualification and CRICOS rules does not qualify merely because a provider issued a graduation document.

Next Steps

Identify the stream from the qualification actually used to meet the Australian study requirement.
Calculate the 6-month course-completion and Student-visa windows using official completion evidence, not the ceremony date.
Check the applicable 35-or-under rule or narrow under-50 exception.
Obtain the required English result within its current validity period.
Apply for the AFP check and, for Post-Vocational, the skills assessment before lodging; attach the required evidence with the application.
Arrange adequate health insurance and lodge in Australia before the deadline.
If considering the second regional stream, retain proof of the institution's location and 2 years of eligible regional residence.