🇦🇺 Post-study work visa in Australia

What is the Australia 485 visa?

The Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485) lets international students live, study and work in Australia after finishing an eligible qualification. It has three streams open to new applicants: Post-Vocational Education Work (for diploma and trade graduates), Post-Higher Education Work (bachelor and above, the stream almost every Indian university graduate uses) and Second Post-Higher Education Work (an extension for graduates who studied and then lived in a designated regional area). The Replacement stream, which covered people whose earlier 485 was cut short by COVID-era travel restrictions, closed to new applications on 1 July 2024. You must pick the stream when you apply; it cannot be changed afterwards.

The 485 is not a skilled-migration visa and has no occupation list, sponsor or points test. It is full work rights for a fixed period, which is why it matters: it is the window in which graduates gain the Australian experience that employer-sponsored and points-tested visas reward. You can hold a 485 as the primary applicant only once, unless you qualify for the regional second visa.

How long is the 485 visa for Indian students?

Stay periods are set by the level of your Australian qualification. Indian nationals get longer periods than the standard table because of the Australia–India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (AI-ECTA). Hong Kong and British National (Overseas) passport holders get 5 years.

Who is eligible for the Post-Higher Education Work stream?

You must meet every point below at the time you apply. The list is taken from the Home Affairs eligibility page checked on 26 September 2026.

• Be 35 years of age or under when you apply. You can be under 50 if you are using a masters by research or a PhD to meet the study requirement, or if you hold a Hong Kong or BN(O) passport.
• Be in Australia (but not in immigration clearance) when you apply. Family members you include in your application must also be in Australia; family members who apply later as subsequent entrants, after the visa is granted, can be in or outside Australia.
• Hold an eligible visa: a student visa, or a Bridging Visa A or B granted on a valid application, or another substantive visa, in each case having held a student visa within the past six months.
• Have completed your course within six months of applying, and hold a degree-level or higher qualification from a CRICOS-registered course that meets the Temporary Graduate visa study requirement.
• Provide evidence of adequate health insurance for every applicant at the time of application.
• Provide evidence that you applied for an Australian Federal Police check within the 12 months ending the day before you lodge (not on the same day), and meet the health and character requirements.
• Provide evidence of English at the required level with your application (see the table below).
• Not have previously held a subclass 485 or 476 visa as a primary applicant.

What English score do you need for the 485 visa?

Minimum scores for tests taken on or after 7 August 2025. The test must have been taken in the 12 months immediately before the day you apply. One Skill Retake (IELTS) and Single Section Retake (MET) results are accepted if completed before lodging. Cambridge C1 Advanced is not accepted for the 485.

How much does the 485 visa cost in 2026?

Post-Higher Education Work charges below were returned by the Department of Home Affairs Visa Pricing Estimator for an application lodged onshore on 26 September 2026; the Second Post-Higher Education Work row comes from the Home Affairs page for that stream.

How do you apply for the 485 visa after graduating in Australia?

Start preparing in your final semester. Two of the documents, the police check application and the English result, need to be sorted before lodgement, and the police check must be applied for at least a day before you lodge.

1. 1

   Book your English test in the final semester

   Sit IELTS, PTE Academic or TOEFL iBT at a test centre and aim for IELTS 6.5 overall with no band below 5.5 or the equivalent. The result must be from the 12 months immediately before you apply, so the test you used for admission two years earlier will not count.

2. 2

   Apply for an Australian Federal Police check

   Apply online to the Australian Federal Police for a National Police Check for immigration purposes. Home Affairs requires evidence that you applied for the check within the 12 months ending the day before you lodge, so do not apply for it on the same day as your visa application. The AFP system can take up to 24 hours to generate a receipt, so apply at least a day or two ahead.

3. 3

   Obtain your completion letter and transcript

   Ask your university for an official completion letter stating the course, CRICOS code and completion date as soon as results are released. You have six months from completion to apply, and you must still hold, or have held within six months, a student visa.

4. 4

   Arrange health insurance for every applicant

   Extend your OSHC or buy Overseas Visitors Health Cover from the day your student visa ends. Evidence of adequate cover for you and any family members is a lodgement requirement.

5. 5

   Lodge in ImmiAccount while in Australia and pay AUD 5,750

   Select the Post-Higher Education Work stream (you cannot change streams later), upload all evidence and pay the charge. A bridging visa normally keeps you lawful while the application is processed once your student visa ends; check its work conditions in VEVO.

6. 6

   Wait for the decision and check conditions on grant

   The Department publishes indicative processing times in its processing-time guide rather than a fixed period. On grant, check your visa end date in VEVO and note that the 485 cannot be extended except through the regional second stream.

How do regional graduates get a second 485 visa?

The Second Post-Higher Education Work stream gives 1 to 2 more years to graduates who studied at a regional campus and then lived regionally. You must hold a 485 in the Post-Higher Education Work or Post-Study Work stream, have a degree from a CRICOS-registered course delivered by an institution based in an eligible designated regional area that led to your first 485, have lived in a designated regional area for at least two years immediately before applying, hold health insurance and again be 35 or under (under 50 on the same exceptions as the first stream: a research masters or PhD used for your first grant, or a Hong Kong or BN(O) passport).

The length depends on where you studied and lived. Category 2, "Cities and Major Regional Centres" (Perth, Adelaide, the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast, Canberra, Newcastle/Lake Macquarie, Wollongong/Illawarra and Geelong), generally gives 1 additional year; applicants who studied and lived in a Category 2 area in Tasmania, such as Hobart, can be granted 2. Category 3, "Regional Centres and Other Regional Areas", which is everywhere outside Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and the Category 2 areas, gives 2 additional years, but only when both where you studied and where you lived are Category 3 (or Tasmania). If you moved between categories, for example studied in Category 2 and lived in Category 3, Home Affairs assesses the shorter period, 1 year. Home Affairs publishes the postcode list.

For an Indian masters graduate the arithmetic is: 3 years on the first 485 plus 1 year (Perth or Adelaide) or 2 years (Townsville, Launceston, Wagga Wagga and similar, provided you both studied and lived in that kind of area) on the second, for up to 5 years of post-study work rights before any employer sponsorship.

What can you do on the 485 visa, and what comes after it?

The 485 carries full, unrestricted work rights: any employer, any occupation, any hours, with the same minimum wage and superannuation protections as Australian workers. You can also study, though without the fee protections of a student visa, and travel freely. Family members included in the application receive the same work rights.

Most Indian graduates use the 485 years to gain skilled experience and then move to a Skills in Demand (subclass 482) employer-sponsored visa, a state-nominated Skilled Nominated (subclass 190) or Skilled Work Regional (subclass 491) visa, or the points-tested Skilled Independent (subclass 189). None of these is automatic; they depend on your occupation being listed, a positive skills assessment and, for points-tested visas, an invitation. Plan the skills assessment (Engineers Australia, ACS, CPA Australia, AHPRA and so on) during the 485, not at the end of it.

The two deadlines that end most 485 hopes

Frequently asked questions

Official sources used on this page

• Department of Home Affairs — Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485) — Australian Department of Home Affairs · checked 26 September 2026
• Department of Home Affairs — Subclass 485, Post-Higher Education Work stream (eligibility, stay periods, English) — Australian Department of Home Affairs · checked 26 September 2026
• Department of Home Affairs — Subclass 485, Second Post-Higher Education Work stream — Australian Department of Home Affairs · checked 26 September 2026
• Department of Home Affairs — Designated regional areas — Australian Department of Home Affairs · checked 26 September 2026
• Department of Home Affairs — Visa Pricing Estimator (subclass 485 Post-Higher Education Work, lodgement 26/09/2026) — Australian Department of Home Affairs · checked 26 September 2026
• Department of Home Affairs — Temporary Graduate (Replacement stream) visa, closed to new applications — Australian Department of Home Affairs · checked 26 September 2026
• Xe — AUD to INR mid-market rate — Xe · checked 26 September 2026