The legislation for the Subclass 485 extension (subsequent 485) is now out! Note that this legislation applies to holders of certain specified qualifications on a 485 PSW (Post-Study Work) stream visa an additional an extra 2 years of Subclass 485(this is NOT a 2-year Subclass 408 extension).

The specified qualifications cover the following fields —

Medical and Nursing (categories: Medical Professionals; Nursing and Medical Technicians)

Professional Health (categories: Dentistry; Veterinarian)

Diagnostic (categories: Medical Imaging; Radiologist)

Allied Health (categories: Psychologist; Recovery Therapist; Optometrist; Pharmacist)

Teaching

Engineering

ICT

Agriculture (categories: Agriculture; Food Technologist)

For reasons of space, below we only show ICT, Engineering and Teachingrelated qualifications. For qualifications in other fields, you are welcome to add our consultant to find out more.

The general principle for the extension, for the specified qualifications above:

Bachelor’s degree: 2 years extended to 4 years

Master’s degree: 3 years extended to 5 years

Doctoral degree: 4 years extended to 6 years(all doctoral qualifications are eligible — they do not need to be on the specified list)

Who? Under what circumstances? And how can the visa be extended?

***All of the below assumes you hold a specified bachelor’s or master’s qualification, or a doctoral qualification

***All references to 485 below mean the PSW stream — for now, this has nothing to do with the graduate work stream

Scenario 1: Lodging a 485 PSW for the first time on or after 1 July 2023 (never previously held as a primary applicant)

You will be granted the extended 485 directly — for example, a bachelor’s-degree holder will receive 4 years straight away

Scenario 2: You currently hold a 485 PSW, a 485 replacement, or a 485 regional (the extension obtained in a regional area)

On or after 1 July you can apply for a subsequent 485, and the additional 2 years will be added directly onto your existing visa.

For example: Xiao Ming’s current 485 expires on 1 December 2023. From 1 July at the earliest, he can apply for the 2-year extension, and his visa validity will be extended to 1 December 2025.

So:

1、There is no need to wait until your 485 / 485 replacement is about to expire before applying

2、You can arrange your visa early and focus on finding work and preparing for migration with peace of mind

This makes it clear that, when applying for this 2-year extension, you must currently hold the relevant visa. Therefore, those who previously held a 485 PSW (now expired) and later switched to a Subclass 500, a 408, or another visa — in other words, those who do not currently hold a 485-class visa，cannot apply for a subsequent 485. However, you may be able to apply for a 2-year Subclass 408 (please come in for an assessment of your specific situation)

Subsequent 485 — do you have to apply manually, or is it granted automatically?

You need to apply manually

Scenario 1: An application fee applies

Scenario 2:Extending the length of the visa on top of your existing visa is free of charge(a further PSW visa)

There is still one core issue to be resolved??

A separate piece of legislation listing the CRICOS course codes that correspond to the specified qualifications is still to come. As at the time of publishing today, it has not yet been released — it was previously said it would be published before 1 July. We will keep monitoring it.

Once this CRICOS course codes list is released, it will be easier to determine, in practice, which courses count as “specified” and are eligible to apply for a Subsequent 485.

There will be frequent updates over this period, and we will do our best to bring you first-hand news as quickly as possible. So if you are studying IT, early childhood education, secondary teaching or any kind of engineering, you can contact us to apply now — adding 2 years directly onto your existing visa, with no loss to the original length of your current 485-class visa!

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