Graduation season is here again. Graduation season doesn’t just mark the successful completion of study — for international students in Australia it also marks a major life crossroads. For some students it’s not only the start of a career journey, but possibly a pivotal moment in deciding which country to build a future in. And the Subclass 485 visa follows on from the student visa, giving graduates ample time to work in Australia, while also giving those who are still undecided about where to settle some time to think it through and make a decision.

Subclass 485 categories

After a series of policy changes, the Subclass 485 visa has gone from just two sub-categories at the start to the relatively complex structure it has today. The Subclass 485 currently breaks down into the following categories:

1、Graduate Work stream

2、Post-Study Work Stream

3、Second Post-Study Work Stream

4、Replacement Stream

Please note there is also one that doesn’t count as a stream in its own right but is a visa application many students now have to deal with, namely5、subsequent 485, for now we’ll place it 5th and cover it together.

First, whichever visa category applies, there are the following common requirements:

1. Aged under 50

2. Health insurance required

Below we outline the requirements by category

1. Graduate Work Stream (GW)

Commonly known as the “old 485”, this is the work visa applied for after graduation by international students who have completed a below-bachelor qualification in Australia.

– Your most recent qualification before applying for the Subclass 485 isdiploma/trade qualification

– Meet the2-year Australian study requirement

– Held a student visa within 6 months before applying

– Lodge the application within 6 months of completing your studies

– Requires a skills assessment, and the assessed occupation must be on the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL) (from 1 July this year, the pandemic-era exemption from the skills assessment has been removed)

–English results equivalent toIELTS overall 6, with no band below 5(*please note there have been changes to the TOEFL test)

–Australian police clearance

*Australia is currently not accepting TOEFL results from the revised test introduced on 26 July; TOEFL results from tests sat before then are still recognised. The English requirements mentioned below are all the same.

2. Post Study Work Stream (PSW)

Commonly known as the “first 485”, this is the work visa applied for after graduation by most international students who have completed a bachelor’s degree or higher in Australia.

– Hold abachelor’s degree or higher

– Meet the2-year Australian study requirement

– Held a student visa within 6 months before applying

– Lodge the application within 6 months of completing your studies

– English results equivalent toIELTS overall 6, with no band below 5

– Australian police clearance

3. Second Post-Study Work Stream (regional)

Commonly known as the “second 485”, this was introduced specifically for students who studied and lived in a regional area of Australia, and can extend the Subclass 485 visa’s validity by 1 or 2 years. As the name of this sub-category suggests,this extension applies only to holders whose first Subclass 485 was a PSW Stream visa.

– Hold a

a. PSW Stream Subclass 485 visa, or a

b. Replacement Stream Subclass 485 visa, and that visa was granted on the basis that your first Subclass 485 was a PSW Stream visa

– Completed yourstudies in a regional area

– Held the first 485 and lived and worked in a regional area for 2 years while holding it

*The regional area where you completed your qualification can be different from the regional area where you held the first 485

4. Replacement Stream

This is a new Subclass 485 category introduced for graduates who were locked out of Australia by border controls during the pandemic and so lost time on their original Subclass 485. In essence it is a“compensatory” visa, so the application must be lodged before 1 January 2027。

– You currently hold, or have previously held, a Subclass 485 — whether theGW Stream (old 485) or the PSW Stream (first 485)

–The 485 time that was lost was granted before 5 December 2021 and came into effect on or after 1 February 2020

*If your original Subclass 485 was granted onshore, then you held this visa and were outside Australia between 1 February 2020 and 14 December 2021

*If your original Subclass 485 was granted offshore, then before 15 December 2021 you held this visa, entered Australia and departed again

This set of circumstances is relatively complex.

If you need help, add me on WeChat for a detailed consultation.

5. Subsequent 485

This is not a visa category in itself. It is a newly announced policy extending the Subclass 485 validity by 2 years for PSW Stream holders whose completed qualification is in a skills-shortage field, in effect from 1 July 2023. Please note that holders of a doctoral qualification are not restricted by field of study and are all eligible for the extension.

There are two scenarios here:

1.A first 485 applied for only after 1 July 2023，can have its validity extended directly in one go — that is, the validity period you would originally have received for the Subclass 485 plus the 2-year extension

2. Holders who already had a 485 PSW Stream (first 485), Replacement Stream, or second 485 before 1 July 2023，can apply for an additional 2-year extension

Let’s use a table to sum up

the differences between these categories

If you’d like to check whether your field of study qualifies for the additional 2-year Subclass 485 validity, get in touch with me.

Because there are now so many 485 categories, exactlyhow many years of validity your Subclass 485 visa can actually have has become an interesting question. So let’s settle it with a table:

That covers the five 485 scenarios. Yet the complexity of the 485 goes further — for example,“do the various scenarios meet the 2-year Australian study requirement?”, “if you completed a bachelor’s degree and then a trade qualification, which stream do you go through?”, “how is a trade qualification even defined?””These more advanced questions need to be assessed case by case — get in touch with me directly to find out more!

Catch up on past articles

Severe Subclass 190/189/491 backlogs — an impact analysis! Plus a parent-migration waiting-time estimator!

Where’s the safe bet? Low tuition fees + no points race + stable employment — popular VET courses in Western Australia

The latest Subclass 143/103 parent-migration backlog figures and waiting-time estimator!

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Subclass 485 keeps changing — is it Australia’s most complicated visa? Don’t worry, this one article has you covered!

Severe Subclass 190/189/491 backlogs — an impact analysis! Plus a parent-migration waiting-time estimator!

Where’s the safe bet? Low tuition fees + no points race + stable employment — popular VET courses in Western Australia

The latest Subclass 143/103 parent-migration backlog figures and waiting-time estimator!

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