The Australian Government has announced change to Temporary Graduate visa to be effective from 1 July 2024
Graduate Work Stream
The Graduate Work stream will be renamed as Post-Vocational Education Work stream. Applicants who have completed a degree level qualification or above will no longer be able to apply in this stream and must apply through the ‘Post-Higher Education Work’ stream. The maximum age for this stream will reduce from 50 to 35 years of age or under at time of application. Hong Kong and British National Overseas passport holders will still be eligible if they are under 50 years of age. Eligible applicants will be granted this visa for a period of 18 months, except for Hong Kong or British National Overseas (BNO) passport holders, who will be granted a visa for a period of 5 years.
Post-Study Work Stream
The Post-Study Work stream will be renamed to Post-Higher Education Work stream and the applicants for this stream must hold an associate degree, diploma or trade qualification closely related to an occupation on the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL). The maximum age for this stream will reduce from 50 to 35 years of age or under at time of application.
The ‘select degree’ 2-year extension will cease. Visa grant period will change to the following:
- Bachelor degree (including honours) – up to 2 years
- Masters (coursework and extended) – up to 2 years
- Masters (research) and doctoral degree (PhD) – up to 3 years.
Visa grant periods for Indian nationals, in accordance with the Australia India – Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (AI-ECTA), remain as:
- 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.
The Second Post-Study Work stream will be renamed the Second Post-Higher Education Work stream and the rest of the requirements for this stream will remain the same. The Replacement Stream which was used for students impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions will cease on 1 July 2024.