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Usually between 2 and 3 years, depending on your qualification.
Hong Kong and British National Overseas passport holders may stay for 5 years.
From AUD 5,750.00
Current as at 05/10/2026 · source: Department of Home Affairs
Live, study and work in Australia temporarily after you have finished your studies;
Bring your family members.
You must be 35 years of age or under when you apply.
You can be under 50 years of age when you apply if you:
You must be in Australia (but not in immigration clearance) when you apply for this visa.
Subsequent entrants can be in or outside Australia when they apply.
We will process your visa application if:
To be eligible for this visa you must have completed your course within 6 months of applying.
We can’t grant you this visa if we have previously granted you a subclass 485 or a subclass 476 visa as a primary visa holder.
You must have been awarded an eligible degree, regardless of your field of study, in the 6 months immediately before applying. You must also meet the Australian study requirement.
The qualification that you have completed must be an eligible degree. This means a:
You must have been awarded an eligible degree, regardless of your field of study, in the 6 months immediately before applying and meet the Australian study requirement.
On 25 November 2023, online study requirements returned to their pre-COVID state. However, online study undertaken during the COVID concession period (1 February 2020 to 25 November 2023) will continue to count towards the Australian Study Requirement.
For further information about eligible study refer to the Australian study requirement.
The Department does not undertake pre-lodgement assessments of the Australian study requirement or any other visa criteria. Once a valid visa application has been lodged, a delegate will make an assessment based on the information available to them.
Your course must have been with an Australian education provider who is registered on CRICOS and offer degree-level programs.
To prove your English level meets the requirements, show evidence that you are a citizen of and hold a valid passport from one of the following countries:
or that, in the 12 months immediately before you apply, you achieved the minimum score in an accepted English language test.
The accepted tests and minimum scores changed for tests taken on or after 7 August 2025, and are different for Hong Kong and British National (Overseas) passport holders. See the current scores on the Department of Home Affairs website, or speak with a registered migration agent to confirm.
You and your family members must have and maintain adequate health insurance for the duration of your stay in Australia. See what we consider adequate health insurance.
Some countries have a reciprocal healthcare agreement with Australia. Find out more from Services Australia about reciprocal healthcare agreements.
You and any family members who apply for the visa with you must meet our health requirement.
You and family members aged 16 years and over who apply for the visa must meet our character requirement.
If you are 18 years of age or older, you must:
If you or any family members owe the Australian Government money, you or they must have paid it back or arranged to pay it back.
We will consider your immigration history when we make a decision on your application, which means you might not be eligible for this visa if you have had a visa cancelled or refused.
In some circumstances you may still apply for a permanent visa if you have had a visa cancelled or an application refused see Limitations on applications in Australia.
If applying for a visa from outside Australia see Can you go to Australia.
If you need immigration assistance, see Who can help with your visa application.
Begin these steps as soon as possible after your education provider has confirmed you have successfully completed your course.
You need a valid passport for this visa.
If you plan to get a new passport, do so before applying for your visa.
If you have a current visa with a ‘No further stay’ condition 8534 or 8503 on your current visa, you can’t apply for this visa online. Submit an ImmiAccount technical support form.
To see your conditions see VEVO.
You may need to have health examinations.
Find out the examinations you need and how to arrange them. Arranging examinations before you apply may lead to a faster decision.
Only some people can help you with your application. If you appoint someone to give you immigration assistance they must be:
You can appoint anyone to receive documents on your behalf relating to your visa matter.
You need to provide documents to support your application.
We can make a decision using the information you provide when you lodge your application. Provide as much information as possible with your application.
Some documents could take some time to get. Have them ready when you submit the application to reduce delays in processing.
Provide the pages of your current passport showing your photo, personal details, and passport issue and expiry dates.
Also provide:
Documents that prove a change of name include:
Documents needed for your application are listed under ‘Evidence to attach to your application’ on Meeting the Australian study requirement.
Provide evidence of your English level: either your passport from the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Canada, New Zealand or the Republic of Ireland, or your English test results from the 12 months immediately before you apply.
The accepted tests and minimum scores changed for tests taken on or after 7 August 2025. See the current requirements on the Department of Home Affairs website.
You must prove that you have adequate health insurance in Australia. Provide:
You and any other applicants over 16 years of age must provide evidence that you have applied for an Australian Federal Police check during the 12 months before you apply for this visa.
We only accept complete disclosure National Police Certificates (Immigration/Citizenship – Australia Name Check Only) issued by the Australian Federal Police. We do not accept standard disclosure certificates or national police certificates issued by Australian state or territory police, or any other organisation.
Complete and provide the following forms:
If requested, you may also need to provide:
For more details refer to character requirements for visas.
To nominate someone to:
Upload your written notification or your forms to ImmiAccount.
Provide your partner‘s:
If you are married, provide your marriage certificate or other evidence that your marriage is valid in Australia.
If you are a de facto partner, provide proof of your de facto relationship.
This proof should show that:
Additional proof of a de facto relationships
In addition to documents proving your relationship provide evidence that:
For every dependant 18 years old or younger who is applying with you, provide:
You must get consent for any applicant under 18 years of age to migrate to Australia from anyone who:
They must complete either:
Alternatively, you can show us:
Include:
To include your child who is over 18 in your visa application, they must be:
If your child is likely to turn 23 while your application is being processed, you will need to provide evidence they are dependent on you due to disability.
Provide:
You must also provide proof the child is dependent on you.
Have all non-English documents translated into English.
Provide original and translated documents in your application.
Translators in Australia must be accredited by the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters.
Translators outside Australia do not have to be accredited. But on each translation, they must include their:
These details must be in English.
Note: You do not need to have any documents certified
Scan or photograph all documents (English and non-English) in colour.
The scans and photos must be clear.
If a document is more than one page, save it all as one file.
You must apply for this visa online.
If you are having problems lodging your application, see common issues and error messages.
Provide accurate information. See what happens if you can’t prove your identity or don’t provide true information.
When you submit your application you must pay for you and your family members or your application will not be valid.
Note:
When you submit your application you must attach the following information:
If you have a technical problem with your ImmiAccount or online application see how to resolve error messages when submitting online
We will let you know when we have received your application and documents. See what you can and must do after you apply.
You can be in or outside Australia (but not in immigration clearance) when we decide on your visa application.
Find out the examinations you need and how you can arrange them. Arranging examinations before you apply may lead to a faster decision.
You can attach further supporting documents in ImmiAccount.
You should provide any requested information within the specified timeframe. We can make a decision on your application once the timeframe has passed.
You can attach further supporting documents in ImmiAccount.
You should provide any requested information within the specified timeframe. We can make a decision on your application once the timeframe has passed.
Make sure you stay lawful by holding a valid visa while we process your application.
When you applied for this visa, you were granted a bridging visa. If your current visa expires before we decide on your application, your bridging visa will allow you to stay lawfully in Australia while we process your application.
Do not cancel your current visa. If you do, you will be staying in Australia unlawfully.
Learn more about visa expiry.
You may be able to add your dependent child to your application for this visa before we make a decision.
You will need to:
Your family can also apply to join you in Australia as a subsequent entrant after the visa is granted. See when you have this visa.
Newborn children
If your child is born after you apply but before we make a decision on your visa, then your child is considered to have made the same visa application as you.
You must tell us as soon as possible and give us:
Let us know as soon as you can if you made a mistake on your application.
Complete Form 1023 Notification of incorrect answers (168KB PDF)
Let us know if you no longer want someone to:
Upload your written notification or your forms to ImmiAccount.
For more information see Who can help you with your application.
Things you need to let us know about after you have applied include:
See how to tell us if your situation changes
You can be in or outside Australia (but not in immigration clearance), when we decide on your visa application.
If you are a subsequent entrant (family member), you can be in or outside Australia when we decide on your visa application.
If we grant your visa, we will tell you:
Keep a copy of the email with you when in Australia.
If we refuse your visa we will let you know by email. We will tell you why we refused and whether you have a right to a review of the decision.
We will not refund the Visa Application Charge if we refuse your application.
Send us an enquiry today to get started on your visa application.
In order to apply for this visa, you need to fulfil the following conditions:
If these two conditions are not met, you will not be eligible to apply for this visa.
We advise that all required documents be prepared in advance, as some may require time for processing. These documents must not be left till the last minute to prepare:
Contact us now to plan out your preparation of these documents.
8501 – Maintain adequate health insurance | You must have and maintain adequate health insurance for the whole of your stay in Australia. For more information on how this condition might apply to you see your visa details. |
