The Australian Government announced changes to the Temporary Graduate visa programs in its recent Migration Strategy. These changes are intended to take effect from July 1, 2024. A temporary Graduate visa is a temporary visa that allows international students to live, study, and work after they have finished their studies. Graduate Work stream, Post-Study Work stream, Second Post-Study Work stream, and Replacement stream are the four types of Temporary Graduate visa.

Temporary Graduate Visa Streams Modified

The Graduate Work stream will be renamed to the Post-Vocational Education Work stream and the Post-Study Work stream will be renamed to the Post-Higher Education Work stream. The restrictions for applicants whose first Student visa was granted because of an application made before November 5, 2011 will no longer apply.

Your qualification to meet the Australian study requirement determines the stream you can apply for. Other qualifications you hold will not be considered to determine eligibility.

You should apply for the Post-Vocational Education Workstream with an associate degree, diploma, or trade qualification. The qualification you use must be closely related to your nominated occupation on the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL). You should apply for the Post-Higher Education Workstream if your qualification is degree level or higher.

Eligibility for the Temporary Graduate visa before the proposed changes

The applicants must have completed their qualification and lodged their Temporary Graduate visa application before July 1, 2024. Further, the aplicants must meet the Australian study requirement, and also meet the eligibility requirements for the stream applied for. They also need to provide evidence from their education provider of the date of course completion, prior to visa decision.

The ‘completion’ date means the date on which the academic requirements for the award of the degree, diploma or trade qualification were met and does not include the formal conferral of the degree, such as through graduation.

Any applications lodged on or after July 1, 2024 will be assessed under the new requirements.

Post-Vocational Education Work stream (former Graduate Work stream)

The maximum eligible age for Post-Vocational Education Work stream applicants will reduce to 35 years of age or under at the time of application. Hong Kong and British National Overseas passport holders will still be eligible if they are under 50. Applicants who are no longer eligible for the Post-Vocational Education Work stream due to the age reduction may qualify for other visas.

Applicants may continue to stay for up to 18 months. Hong Kong or British National Overseas passport holders may be able to stay for up to 5 years.

Post-Higher Education Work stream (former Post-Study Work stream)

The maximum eligible age for Post-Higher Education Work stream applicants will reduce to 35 years of age or under at the time of application. Masters (research) and doctoral degree (PhD) graduates and Hong Kong and British National Overseas passport holders will still be eligible if they are under 50 years of age. Applicants no longer eligible for the Post-Higher Education Work stream due to the age reduction may be eligible for other visas.

The ‘select degree’ 2 year extension will cease. From July 1, 2023, a two-year extension of post-study work rights was available for international graduates enrolled in eligible courses including teaching, nursing, and engineering.

Stay periods 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.
Hong Kong and British National Overseas passport holders may be able to stay for up to 5 years.

Stay periods for Indian nationals, as agreed in 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. There are no other changes to this stream. Second Post-Study Work stream visa is for holders of a Temporary Graduate visa (first Post-Study Work stream or Replacement stream) who graduated with a degree from an Australian institution located in a regional area. The Replacement stream for current and former Temporary Graduate visa holders who lost time on their original visa due to COVID-19 travel restrictions will cease.