Working After Studies Post Study Work

There are lots of options available to international students who want to stay and work in Australia after their studies. Australian qualifications are known to make graduates attractive employees to employers in Australia and around the world.

The Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485) visa gives a great opportunity to stay back and work in Australia after completing the course. It enables you and your immediate family to study live and work in Australia from 1.5 years to 4 years. This work visa is a huge incentive for many people to consider studying in Australia. This visa is also known as Temporary Residence(TR) or TR Visa or post study visa by some students.

The basic eligibility for this 485 Temporary Graduate Visa is:

• You must be less than 50 years of age.
• You must have met the English language requirement.
• Must have enrolled in the approved course for at least two academic years (92 weeks).
• The approved course must have been instructed in English and completed in no less than 16 calendar months.

This Temporary Graduate Visa (subclass 485) has two streams:
- Graduate Work stream (Valid for 1.5 years)
- Post-Study Work stream (Valid for 2 to 6 years)

Below is an outline of both Graduate work stream and Post study work stream which are available for international students after they complete their studies.

Graduate Work Stream

This visa is for international students who have recently graduated with skills and qualifications that are relevant to specific occupations Australia needs. It lets you live, study and work in Australia temporarily. Students must have completed a qualification relevant to an occupation on the skilled occupation list. This visa is valid for 18 months. Students can bring their immediate family members

To be eligible :

• You must completed your course as a result of at least two academic years (92 weeks) study and must have been physically present in Australia for at least 16 calendar months to complete the study
• You must be awarded at least one degree, diploma or trade qualification and
• You must meet the English language requirements (a minimum score of 6 in each component of the IELTS exam or equivalent score in another specified English language test), as well as health, good character and security requirements. You will also need to provide evidence that you have health insurance to cover the duration of the graduate work stream visa

Post Study work stream

This visa is for international students who have recently graduated with a degree from an Australian institution. It lets you live and work in Australia and is usually valid for 2 and 4 years, depending on your qualification. Students can bring their immediate family members

To be eligible :

• Validity of Post Study Work Visa
• Students who are graduating from a bachelor degree or masters by coursework degree will be eligible for a two-year (2 year) post-study work visa.
• Students who are graduating from masters by research degree will be eligible for a three-year (3 year) post-study work visa.
• Students who are graduating from a doctoral degree will be eligible for a four-year (4 year) post study work visa.

You will also need to provide evidence that you have health insurance to cover the duration of the post-study work visa

• You must completed your course as a result of at least two academic years (92 weeks) study and must have been physically present in Australia for at least 16 calendar months to complete the study
• You must be awarded at least one degree, diploma or trade qualification and
• You must meet the English language requirements (a minimum score of 6 in each component of the IELTS exam or equivalent score in another specified English language test), as well as health, good character and security requirements. You will also need to provide evidence that you have health insurance to cover the duration of the graduate work stream visa

New Regional Visas: International students who study in institutions from regional Australia get an extra 1 to 4 years extension to their post-study work stream 485 visas. Regional Australia is an initiative from the government of Australia to fill the skill shortage and boost the economy in the regional areas of Australia.

To be eligible : You will need to have graduated from an Australian bachelor degree, masters by coursework degree, masters by research degree or doctoral degree in the six months before applying for the visa. Students who graduate from courses below bachelor degree level are not eligible to apply for the post-study work visa.

Under this initiative, all the locations in Australia have been classified into three categories.(Category 1, 2 and 3). See Below:

Category 1 - For the students graduating from a college /university from below mentioned cities/regions

Two (2) years post study work visa for international students completing Bachelors and Masters degrees (minimum 92 weeks), 3 years for Masters by Research and 4 years for PhD. Graduate

Category 2 - For the students graduating from a college /university from these cities/regions (one year added to existing stay back)

International students studying at above regional universities will be eligible to access an additional year in Australia on a post-study work visa (Which means a Bachelors or Masters graduate can get up to 3 years of PSW visa).

Category 3 - For the students graduating from a college /university from these cities/regions (two year added to existing stay back)

International students studying at above regional universities will be eligible to access an additional 2 years in Australia on a post-study work visa (Which means a Bachelors or Masters graduate can get up to 4 years of PSW visa)

Please feel free to contact us or one of our counsellors at Uni2Go for more details