26 April 2024

Major Update!

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In line with a Migration overhaul strategy and Migration review 2024 announced on 11 December 2023, there's been a number of changes announced for the Temporary Graduate Visa (TR 485) which is expected to be implemented on 1st July 2024.

1. Graduate Work stream will be renamed to Post-Vocational Education Work stream, Post-Study Work stream will be renamed to Post-Higher Education Work stream, and Second Post-Study Work stream will be renamed the Second Post-Higher Education Work stream.

2. Applicant age must be maximum 35 to apply for 485 visa. Hong Kong and British National Overseas passport holders will continue to be eligible provided they are under 50 years of age.

3. Graduate Work stream applicants must hold an associate degree, diploma or trade qualification, closely related to their nominated occupation on the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL).

4. Applicants with a degree level qualification or higher will no longer be eligible for Graduate Work stream.

5. The ‘select degree’ 2 year extension will cease for Post-Study Work stream.

6. Duration for TR 485 for Bachelor/Master (course work) will be 2 years and Master (by Research)/PhD will be 3 years for Post-Study Work stream.

7. Stay periods for Indian nationals, as agreed in the Australian Indian – Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (AI-ECTA), Bachelor degree (including honours) – up to 2 years, Bachelor degree (with first class honours in STEM, including ICT) – up to 3 years, Masters (coursework, extended and research) – up to 3 years, Doctoral degrees (PhD) – up to 4 years.

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English Language Requirements changes

Following the Migration Strategy announced on 11 December 2023, the Australian Government has announced the changes on the English Requirement of Temporary Graduate Visa (TR) starting from 23rd March 2024.

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Temporary Graduate visas (TGV)

• The minimum score required for a Temporary Graduate visa increases from IELTS 6.0 to 6.5 (or equivalent as specified on our website), with a minimum score of 5.5 for each component of the test (reading, writing, speaking and listening).

• Passport holders from Hong Kong and British National Overseas (BNO) are not required to meet this increased minimum English language requirement. The settings for this cohort remains at IELTS 6.0 (or equivalent), with a minimum score of 5.0 for each component of the test (reading, writing, speaking and listening).

• The test validity window for all Temporary Graduate visa applications decreases from three years to one year. Applicants must provide evidence that they have completed an English Language test no more than one year immediately before the date of the visa application.