Applying for a Graduate 485 Visa? Here's 4 Things To Do To Avoid Refusal!

With the 15th of March closely approaching comes the expiration of thousands of Student visas across Australia (i.e Migration D-DAY). Accordingly, we thought it would be useful to make a very quick summary of four (4) very simple things that applicants must do before applying for their Graduate 485 visa. Importantly, the things we list below may seem small and insignificant, however in our experience, it is these small yet poorly understood requirements that gets international Students into the most trouble!

1. Sit Your English Test

Unless you are fortunate enough to hold a passport from the UK, USA, Canada, New Zealand or Ireland, you must have sat an english test before you have made your Subclass 485 visa application. Importantly, it is acceptable if your results are issued after you have applied for your visa, so long as the date of your exam is before the date of your visa application. Keep in mind however that applying for the 485 without knowing your test scores does pose a risk. For example, if you receive your test results after you have made your visa application and you have not scored the required score, you will be unable to have the 485 visa granted, even if you are able to achieve the required score whilst waiting for the 485 visa. The reason being is that you must meet the minimum score in a test sat before the visa has been applied for.

2. Apply For Your Australian Federal Police Clearance

It is an important requirement that your Subclass 485 visa application be accompanied with an Australian Federal Police (AFP) National Police Check certificate (‘AFP Check’) that is less than 12 months old, or evidence that you have at least applied to obtain this clearance. This means that you can include in your visa application proof that you have applied for the AFP Check (for example - by attaching the receipt number of the AFP Check and payment receipt to confirm that you, and your family, have made attempts to obtain one).

Accordingly, it is essential that you obtain an AFP Check for yourself AND each secondary applicant included in your Subclass 485 visa application, who is at least 16 years old. For example, if you are including dependents such as your partner, wife/husband or child (16+), you will need to obtain one for each. If it is just you who is applying for the visa, then only your own AFP Check is required. Failing to at least apply for an AFP for you and your family will lead to the refusal of the 485, even if you meet all other criteria!

Keep in mind that once you obtain the AFP Check, it is only valid for 12 months. So before lodging your Subclass 485 visa application, please make sure that your AFP Check is still valid, otherwise you will need to apply for a new clearance before applying for your 485 visa - as mentioned above.

3. Apply for Adequate Health Insurance 

When applying for the Subclass 485 visa, you must provide evidence that you and everyone included in your application has adequate health insurance in Australia.
 
You will need to provide any one of the following:

• A signed letter from a health insurance provider outlining the level and range of health cover;
• A Medicare card or receipt of enrolment with Medicare (if eligible);
• If you are from a country with a reciprocal health care agreement with Australia and will be eligible for Medicare when you arrive here, evidence of adequate of health insurance, including travel insurance, to cover you until you enroll in Medicare.

 
If you are currently holding a valid student visa, you may provide evidence of your current Overseas Student Health Cover (‘OSHC’) policy. Please note that OSHC policies are only valid at the time of applying for the visa. So basically, this means that whilst you can apply for the Subclass 485 visa with your current OSHC, when your student visa expires OR when the case officer is ready to make a decision on your Subclass 485 visa application, your OSHC policy ceases as you are no longer classified as a student visa holder.
 
Consequently, this means that you will need to obtain non-OSHC insurance immediately to meet the health requirements of your Subclass 485 visa application, due to your OSHC no longer being valid. Non-OSHC insurance is just normal overseas visitor health cover.
 
If your student visa is still valid at the time of decision (that is, when the case officer is ready to grant your Subclass 485 visa), and you have not obtained a non-OSHC health insurance policy, the case officer will request one from you.
 
To help you understand the OSHC process from Student Visa to the Subclass 485 visa, here is an example:
 
If you are currently covered by an OSHC until 15 March (also when your student visa expires), and you lodge your Subclass 485 visa application in February (prior to the expiry date of the OSHC), you must obtain adequate non-OSHC health insurance cover that commences from 16 March when your bridging visa commences.

If your Subclass 485 visa is granted prior to the expiry date of your student visa (that is, 15 March), you must obtain a non-OSHC health insurance cover immediately (because you are no longer classified as a student visa holder).

In this circumstance, the case officer will contact you to request evidence (if you have not already done so) to prove that you have non-OSHC health insurance cover prior to finalising the visa application.
 

4. Apply Within 6 Months of Finishing Your Course 

There has been much confusion for some recent graduates in determining when the start date begins for the deadline to ‘apply within 6 months of finishing your course’ (Australian Study Requirement).
 
To clarify on this, the start or critical date, is the date on which the results of your final exams or notice of completion of the course were made available or published. This is the date which triggers the 6 month period during which you may apply for the Subclass 485 visa.
 
In particular, evidence of this completion date could be notification of final exam results:

• in a letter addressed to you;
• on the Internet;
• in a newspaper; or
• on the educational institutions bulletin board.

 
It is also extremely important to note that although a degree or certificate generally shows the date of the award or conferral, that information is not relevant to this situation. For the purposes of satisfying this Australian Study Requirement, evidence is required of the date of completion of the course, not the date of when the degree was awarded to you.
 
To highlight the importance of this point, here is an example:
 
Your transcript or certificate states:

“Admitted to the degree of Bachelor of Business on 18 May 2016”

You may mistakenly assume that your degree was completed on this date, therefore your 6 month time frame starts from this date.

Though, it is quite likely that your qualification was completed the preceding November/December (2015). This is usually the date when you would have completed your course, and when the critical date starts, for you to calculate your Australian Study Requirement of applying within 6 months of finishing your course.

However, if you have really did in fact complete your degree on 18 May 2016 (and not being conferred or awarded on that date), then you will need to provide evidence. This can occur when you were required take a supplementary exam or similar.

To confirm then, you must apply within 6 months of completing your course, not necessarily the date of your graduation or the dates listed on your qualification certificate so be very careful!