Finishing a degree in Australia is a big achievement, and you don’t have to leave the moment you graduate. The subclass 485 Temporary Graduate visa lets you stay on to get real work experience and look at your options for permanent residency. This page explains the streams, who’s eligible, what it costs, and how to use the time to set up your next visa.
What Is the Subclass 485 Temporary Graduate Visa?
The subclass 485 lets recent international graduates stay in Australia for a set period after finishing an eligible qualification. Once it’s granted, you can work in any job or field, no matter what you studied, and you can keep studying too. You get full work rights with no hour limits and access to Medicare, and you can include eligible family members on the application, who get the same work rights.
Our registered 485 agents in Melbourne help recent graduates at every qualification level with their subclass 485 applications. We check your eligibility, work out which stream applies to you, and run the whole application. We’ll also tell you what to do during your 485 to set yourself up for the next visa step.
Subclass 485 Streams
There are two main 485 streams, based on the level of your qualification, plus a regional extension stream. You can’t change stream after you apply, so getting the right one from the start matters.
Post-Higher Education Work (PHEW) Stream
This stream is for graduates of a bachelor degree, masters degree or doctoral degree, and you don’t need a skills assessment. Stay periods depend on your qualification: generally two years for a bachelor degree, two to three years for a masters depending on whether it’s coursework or research, and up to three years for a doctorate. Indian passport holders receive longer periods under the Australia-India trade agreement, and studying in a regional area can lead to a further stay through the second stream. Note that since December 2024, graduate certificates no longer count as a degree for this stream.
Post-Vocational Education Work (PVEW) Stream
This stream is for graduates of an associate degree, diploma or trade qualification that links directly to an occupation on the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL). You need a positive skills assessment in your nominated occupation, and your qualification has to be closely related to it. The visa is valid for 18 months, or up to five years for Hong Kong and British National Overseas passport holders.
Second Post-Higher Education Work Stream
This one is open to graduates who already hold a Post-Higher Education Work visa and who studied and lived in a designated regional area. It gives you a longer stay, generally one year if you were in a Category 2 area like Adelaide or Perth, or two years for a Category 3 area like Darwin or Ballarat. It has specific regional study and residence conditions you need to plan for ahead of time, and it isn’t available to graduates who only held the vocational stream.
Key Eligibility Requirements
A few requirements apply across the streams. The one people most often trip on is the six-month window, so it’s worth getting advice as soon as your results are confirmed.
- Apply within six months of being told you've met your course requirements. You can't apply before you've completed the course.
- Have held a tudent visa (subclass 500) within the six months before you apply, and be in Australia when you lodge.
- Be aged 35 or under at the time of application. Exceptions apply for masters by research and doctoral graduates, and for Hong Kong and British National Overseas passport holders, who are eligible up to 50.
- Meet the Australian study requirement: at least two academic years (92 weeks) of CRICOS-registered study over a minimum of 16 months in Australia.
- Hold adequate health insurance for everyone included on the application.
- Show you've applied for an Australian Federal Police check before you lodge, not on the same day.
- Not have held a subclass 485 as a primary applicant before.
English Language Requirements
Unless you hold a passport from the UK, USA, Canada, New Zealand or Ireland, you’ll need to prove your English with an approved test.
That six-month window is the part people most often trip on. Miss it and you can lose your eligibility, so contact us as soon as your results are confirmed, well before it closes.
Subclass 485 Cost
The 485 became a lot more expensive in 2026. On 1 March 2026 the base application charge for the primary applicant doubled to around AUD 4,600. There are separate charges for family members, currently around AUD 2,300 for a partner or dependant aged 18 or over and around AUD 1,160 for a child under 18, plus a surcharge if you pay by credit card. Lower fees apply for eligible Pacific Island and Timor-Leste citizens.
The charge is non-refundable if the application is refused, which is a strong reason to get it right the first time. Fees are also indexed, usually on 1 July, so check the current figure on the official Visa Pricing Estimator before you lodge. You can see how we charge for our own work on our fees page.
Subclass 485 Processing Times
Processing times depend heavily on the stream. Post-Higher Education Work applications are usually quick, with many decided within a few weeks and most finalised within about three months. Post-Vocational Education Work applications tend to take longer, often a few months, partly because of the skills assessment involved. December to March is the busiest period, so applications lodged then can take longer.
If your student visa expires while your 485 is being processed, you’re generally granted a Bridging Visa A that lets you stay and keep working on the same conditions while you wait. A complete, well-documented application at lodgement is the best way to keep processing on the shorter end.
How to Apply for a 485
We check your eligibility and confirm the right stream, then help you gather your documents: your completion letter, transcripts, evidence you’ve held a student visa, health insurance, your English result if you need one, and evidence you’ve applied for your AFP check. For the vocational stream, we also lodge or confirm your skills assessment. We then lodge the application through ImmiAccount and pay the charge, and the Department may ask for a health examination afterwards. Because you can’t change stream once you’ve applied, and the window is tight, this is worth getting right the first time.
Using Your 485 to Plan for Permanent Residency
For a lot of graduates, the 485 is the first real step toward permanent residency. The work experience you build during your 485 can add to your points score for general skilled migration, such as the subclass 189 or 190, or strengthen an employer sponsored visa application. If you’re an accounting, IT or engineering graduate, a Professional Year program can add five points to your skilled migration score.
We don’t stop at the 485 application itself. We help you use the time well: which occupations and work experience will count for most on your next application, whether to do a skills assessment while you’re on the 485, and which permanent pathways are realistic for your qualifications and experience. Eligible 485 holders can also move to the Skills in Demand subclass 482 visa once they meet the work experience requirements.
Planning early in your 485 makes a real difference to your options when it expires, so it’s worth talking to us near the start rather than waiting until it’s almost run out. You can book a free assessment to map out your next steps.
Subclass 485 FAQs
It depends on your qualification and stream. Under the Post-Higher Education Work stream, a bachelor degree generally gives you two years, a masters two to three years, and a doctorate up to three years. The vocational stream is 18 months. Indian passport holders, and graduates who studied in regional areas, can get longer.
From 1 March 2026 the base charge for the primary applicant is around AUD 4,600, roughly double what it was before. There are extra charges for family members. Fees are indexed and non-refundable, so check the current figure before you lodge.
Only for the Post-Vocational Education Work stream, where your trade or diploma qualification links to an occupation on the MLTSSL. The Post-Higher Education Work stream, for degree-level graduates, doesn’t need one.
Yes. The 485 gives you full work rights with no hour limits, in any occupation, regardless of what you studied. Your partner, if included on the application, gets the same work rights.
The six-month window runs from when you’re told you’ve met your course requirements, and missing it usually means you lose eligibility for the 485. This is the most common reason graduates miss out, so it’s worth starting as soon as your results are confirmed.
Not on its own. It’s a temporary visa, but it gives you the time and work rights to build toward permanent residency through skilled migration, such as the 189 or 190, or through employer sponsorship. Using the time well is what turns a 485 into a PR outcome.
Yes. You can include your partner and dependent children, and they get the same work rights. There are additional charges for each family member, and they need to meet health and character requirements.
