If you have just completed your studies in Australia and now want to extend your stay and work here, then the Temporary Graduate Visa Subclass 485 is the best option for you. It will grant you full working rights in Australia for between one and a half to four years, depending on your graduation level. Moreover, this visa will act as a perfect stepping stone for a permanent residence visa. However, there are complexities associated with the visa and its application procedure. So, in this article, we discuss eight significant mistakes that the students mostly commit at the time of application.
1. Not Applying For The Visa Within Time
A timely-made application is a must-do thing for the visa grant. Once your course ends, you should apply for the Temporary Graduate Visa 485 within six months of completion. The completion date is the date on which the final course result is published and not the Graduation Day.
You have to apply for the visa between the course completion date and your current student visa expiry date. You may have a couple of weeks in your hands, depending on when your course ends.
2. Not keeping The University Documents In Proper Order
You will need a completion letter issued by your university that will have all the exact dates mentioned. It should also include all the qualifications you have completed in the course. You will also make a formal request to your university as most institutes do not automatically issue this document. In addition to this completion document, you will also require to submit a copy of the transcript. Again, you need to request this document formally.
Finally, you should also check the number of weeks your course has registered for the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students or the CRICOS. The minimum number of weeks should be 92.
3. Mismanagement Of Time Spent On Australian Soil
Your physical presence in Australia is needed for at least 16 months between the beginning of your course and its completion date. You may have finished your course early by doing summer semesters or other exemptions. Before you apply, you should check how many days you have spent in Australia.
4. Not Preparing for English Test
If you’re not from any native English-speaking country like the UK, USA, Canada, Ireland or New Zealand, you have to sit an English test before you lodge your application.
You should prepare for it from a very advanced stage, as you may have to face long waits to get a testing date. Several students also do not get the expected result on the first attempt. So, it is better to prepare early to have more time to sit for the test again.
Your application will get refused if you could not pass on the first attempt and thus could not provide the passing score at the time of application. Even if you pass in the next attempt, you will not get a second chance to apply. Even the AAT cannot be able to save you.
5. You Should Get The Clearance From The AFP
You should not forget to get the clearance certificates from the Australian Federal Police. The requirement doesn’t seem so challenging, but complexities may arise in the following cases.
a. Even if you have applied for the AFP clearance before applying, it can get refused when you cannot provide the receipt of the AFP lodgement.
b. Be careful about applying for the wrong type of police clearance.
c. If any other persons aged 16 or more are included in the applications, they must also provide AFP clearances.
d. You should apply for the clearance 12 months before lodgement. Clearance older than 12 months will be deemed invalid.
ISA Migrations can help you get a registered visa agent from Adelaide or any other city to help you get the clearances smoothly.
6. Do Not Ignore The Health Insurance
Adequate health insurance arrangements need to be shown at different application stages. At the time of lodgement, Overseas Student Health Cover or OSHC is required. You can show the OSHC or OVHC (Overseas Visitor Health Cover) during processing. But at the time of grant, OVHC is a must.
7. Choose The Correct Stream Of Visa
Two streams are available under Visa Subclass 485 – the Graduate Work Stream (GWS) and the Post Study Work Stream (PSWV). PSWV is considered more practical than GWS because of few reasons. The validity of PSWV is 2 to 4 years, while GWS will allow you to stay for only one and a half years. You will require a skills assessment for GWS, but no such headache is needed for PSWV. And last but not least, for the GWS, you will also need an occupation on the IFSOL, or the Independent and Family Sponsored Occupations List.
But, for PSWV, you have to fulfil several requirements. You should have a student visa for which you should have applied after 5 November 2011. You need to have Bachelor, Masters or PhD degree.
8. You Have To Fulfil The Eligibility Criteria
You should have completed at least two years of academic study in an Australian institute. Some crucial points on this Graduate Visa 485 requirement are as follows.
a. You can take one or more courses if you have a break between two qualifications.
b. Types of courses vary from GWS stream to PSWV stream.
c. Graduate Diplomas are not granted for PSWV. According to a recent policy, they are not getting accepted for GWS, too.
d. For GWS, all the qualifications you will consider for the two-year requirement must be closely related to the nominated occupation.
Where To Take Help?
Upon rejection, you will not be able to re-apply because of Section 48 of the Migration Act. So, it is better to get in touch with ISA Migrations and their team of Migration Agent Adelaide if you don’t feel confident. They can assign you with any qualified immigration agent from Adelaide for application-specific help.