News
Sweeping changes in the middle of the year to the graduate visa program in Australia have underscored the importance of securing the advice of an experienced migration agent from the very start of your migration journey.
The changes, enacted on July 1 as part of the Australian Government’s Migration Strategy, saw Temporary Graduate visas (subclass 485) reclassified into two streams depending on the qualification acquired with associate degrees, diplomas or trade qualifications eligible for the Post-Vocational Education Work stream and degree-level qualifications or higher eligible for the Post-Higher Education Work stream.
The maximum age for the Post-Higher Education Work stream was reduced from the age of 50 to the age of 35, with exceptions for applicants who are using a Masters (by Research) or Doctoral Degree (PhD) to meet the Australian study requirement.
Masters or PhD students are now the only types of students over the age of 35 who are eligible to apply for the Second Post-Higher Education Work stream, which effectively extends the Post-Higher Education Work stream visa for another 1-2 years, importantly, depending on which Australian region the applicant studied in to receive their Temporary Graduate visa.
The length of stay allowed for Post-Vocational Work stream visa holders, with the exception of Hong Kong or British National Overseas passport holders, is 18 months. For the Post-Higher Education Work stream, Bachelor degree graduates (including honours) are allowed to stay up to 2 years, Masters graduates (coursework and extended) up to 2 years, while Masters (research) and doctoral degree graduates (PhD) are allowed to stay up to 3 years.
The changes underline the importance of choosing where to study wisely with the advice of a knowledgeable migration agency from the very start of your visa journey key. Easy Migrate can offer you the best advice from the get go and help you to formulate a long term plan to facilitate a smooth migration journey without any speed bumps or worse yet, dead ends.
The Department of Home Affairs’ only advice for migrants caught out by the changes, particularly those aged above 35 and now too old to be eligible for a Post-Higher Education Work stream visa, is to assess their tourism, partner and refugee visa options, clearly showing how important it is to plan ahead with the advice of a highly experienced agency like Easy Migrate.