The 485 visa is a temporary visa that allows international students to live, study and work in Australia. People look to live in Australia to work or study, but the Temporary Graduate Visa Subclass 485 is especially for those who have finished their studies.
This visa has two streams: the Graduate work stream and the Post-degree work stream. Both these streams are for international students who have graduated from an Australian or overseas university. In this guide, you will know more about the required documents for the 485 visa.
Streams under the 485 Visa
Before applying for the subclass 485 visa, you need to know the steam or version of the visa you are applying for. This can be a confusing part of this specific visa for most applicants, which is why you need to know about both the streams.
There are three visa streams to choose from under this visa. The steam that you choose will depend on the qualification that you have completed. The three streams of the Temporary Graduate Visa 485 are as follows:
- Post-study work stream
If you have completed a Bachelor’s, Master or PhD, you can select this stream. You can only apply for the stream only if you did not apply and were granted a student visa before November 5, 2011.
- Graduate work stream
You could select this stream if you completed a Diploma or Certificate that can lead you to a job on the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL). This stream also needs you to provide a provisional skills assessment. ]
- Second Post-Study Work stream
Graduates from an Australian institution located in a regional area who hold a Temporary Graduate visa in the post-study work stream are eligible for this visa. You are allowed to work, study, and live in Australia for a short period of time.
Identity Documents
Identity documents that you can provide for a subclass 485 visa for both the streams are as follows:
- Passport and bio data page
- The birth certificate that shows the name of the parents
- Passport-size photographs.
Documents to Prove Family Relationships
The documents that you will need to prove your family relationships for the 485 subclass visa are as follows:
- Marriage/Divorce certificates or statutory declaration separation documents, if applicable.
- If you are in a de facto relationship, you need independent evidence to prove that you have been in the relationship for under a year. Some evidence can be joint bank accounts or billing accounts in joint names.
- If any dependent child in your application is adopted, you need certified copies of the adoption papers.
Health and Character Documents
After the visa application is made, it needs to be accompanied by evidence that everyone included in the application has proper health insurance in Australia. You can provide any of the following documents:
- A signed letter from a health insurance provider
- If you are from a country with a reciprocal health care agreement with Australia, you will be eligible for healthcare when you arrive there.
- You need an Australian Federal Police check that cannot be older than 12 months.
The AFP National Police Check application form is available from the Australian Federal police website in either paper or online. Potential visa applicants need to tick Code 33 in Section 8 of the form, but fingerprints are not required.
You might need to provide police certificates from every country where anyone under your application has spent more than a year in the past ten years since turning sixteen.
Australian Study Requirement
The following 485 Visa checklist is important for the Australian study requirement:
- Completion letters from your education provider that states:
- The date that the course commenced and ended
- The date when the course requirements were met
- Location of the campus where you studied
- Whether the study involved distance learning or if the study was full-time or part-time
- The language in which the instruction was given
- Certified copies of course transcripts
- Where credit has been granted, it needs to state whether the credit is based on what was studied in the course and whether it also meets the conditions of the Australian study requirement.
For instance, if you studied a course in Australia that was taught in English and registered with CRICOS if any credit was granted towards the completion of your course, it needs to ensure that the transcript indicates the details of the transferred credits.
Documents Required under the Graduate Work Stream
The documents that you need to provide under the graduate work stream of the 485 Visa in Australia are:
- For skills assessment for the nominated occupation, you can provide either of the following:
- Evidence of successful skills assessment where the relevant assessing authorities have evaluated your skills suitable for the nominated occupation
- Evidence that you applied to the relevant assessment authority for skills assessment for the nominated occupation.
Documents that Show Your English Language Ability
The only document you need to provide to show your English language ability for the Graduate Visa in Australia is the results of a specified English language test.
You are not required to provide such documents to show your proficiency in the English language if you are a citizen of Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States or the Republic of Ireland.
Police Clearance
For visa 485, you need to show clearance from the Australian Federal Police to be able to apply for the visa. The AFP check needs to be the National police check, not the state police check.
Your visa may be refused if you submit the wrong police check, so you must keep in mind that it must be the National police check. The Police check for the Graduate Visa 485 should not be older than six months for it to be valid when applying.
Other Important Things to be Considered
Some of the other important things that you need to consider before you apply for this visa are:
- You need to be under 50 years of age
- You should have been in Australia physically for at least 16 months between when the course started and completed.
- If your documents are not in English, they need to be translated to English and submitted with a copy of the original.
Final Words
If you want to know more about the documents regarding the 485 visas, you need to hire the services of a migration consultant Adelaide. They are visa experts who can help you gather all the important documents required for the 485 visas, and these migration experts can also help you fill out visa application forms.
