Post Study Work Visa in Australia for Indian Students: 2026 Guide
- Last Updated on: June 17, 2026 by
- Sridhar Kongara
The post study work visa in Australia for Indian students is the Subclass 485 (Temporary Graduate visa), and from 1 March 2026 its primary-applicant charge doubled to AUD 4,600 (about INR 3.15 lakh). That single change reshapes the after-the-degree maths for every family. The good news, and the reason this guide exists, is that Indian graduates still get a duration advantage written into the Australia-India trade deal that other nationalities lost in 2024. Below you’ll find the new fee in INR, the exact stay length by degree, who qualifies, and how the 485 turns into permanent residence.
All INR conversions use the live Google-published rate captured on 2026-05-31: AUD 1 ≈ ₹68.48. Rates fluctuate intraday; figures are indicative.
Quick note before you read on: this is general information about the post study work visa in Australia for Indian students, not personal migration advice. Visa rules and fees change often, so confirm the current position on the Department of Home Affairs website, or with a registered migration agent (MARA-registered), before you lodge.
Key Takeaways
- From 1 March 2026, the Subclass 485 primary-applicant fee is AUD 4,600 (approx. INR 3.15 lakh), double the old charge.
- The 485 has two streams: Post-Higher Education Work (degrees) and Post-Vocational Education Work (diplomas and trades).
- Under the Australia-India ECTA, Indian Bachelor graduates get up to 2 years, Masters graduates up to 3 years, and PhD graduates up to 4 years.
- You must be 35 or under, hold IELTS 6.5 (5.5 each band) taken within a year, and meet a 2-year Australian study requirement.
- Studying in a regional area can win you a second 485 for 1 to 2 extra years.
- The 485 gives full unrestricted work rights and feeds into the points test for permanent residence.
The Subclass 485 at a glance: your quick-answer table
The Subclass 485 (Temporary Graduate visa) is Australia's post-study work visa. As of 2026, the AUD 4,600 primary charge is set by the 2026 visa application charge regulations, the 35-and-under age cap by Department of Home Affairs rules, and Indian stay lengths of 18 months to 4 years by the Australia-India ECTA, as summarised by Study Australia.
Short on time? Here’s the whole visa on one screen. This table is your fast reference; every figure (for the TR 485 or PSWV, as the post-study work visa is often called) is unpacked in detail below.
| What you’re checking | The 2026 answer for Indian students |
|---|---|
| Visa name | Subclass 485 Temporary Graduate visa (the TR 485 or PSWV) |
| Primary fee | AUD 4,600 (about ₹3.15 lakh), from 1 March 2026 |
| Age limit | 35 or under (PhD and master by research up to 50) |
| English | IELTS 6.5 overall, 5.5 each band, taken within 1 year |
| Australian study requirement | 2 academic years in a CRICOS-registered course |
| Stay duration | 18 months to 4 years by qualification (ECTA durations for Indians) |
| Application window | Within 6 months of completing your course |
| Work rights | Full, unrestricted work in any sector |
What is the Subclass 485, and why did the fee just double in 2026?
The Subclass 485, or Temporary Graduate visa, is the Australian post-study work visa that lets international graduates work in Australia after their course. From 1 March 2026, the primary-applicant charge is AUD 4,600 (about INR 3.15 lakh), under the Migration Amendment (Temporary Graduate Visa Application Charge) Regulations 2026. The higher cost makes early planning essential for the stay-back decision.
Let’s be plain about why this matters. If you funded three years of tuition and living costs, the 485 is the visa that lets your child earn that money back on an Australian salary. So when the fee doubled, the real question became: does the post-study work visa in Australia for Indian students still pay off at the new price? For most graduates it does, but only because the stay is longer for Indians than for almost anyone else.
Here’s the change in one line. The Department of Home Affairs moved the primary charge from AUD 2,300 to AUD 4,600 on 1 March 2026, under the Migration Amendment (Temporary Graduate Visa Application Charge) Regulations 2026. Any figure quoting AUD 2,300 is now out of date for new applications.
Why does Australia keep tightening the rules and still attract Indians? In the year to July 2025, a record 159,530 Indian students were enrolled in Australia, the second-largest source country, according to the Department of Education. That scale is why the Temporary Graduate visa sits at the heart of the Indian study-abroad plan.
Remember, the 485 is the next step after your Australia student visa (Subclass 500), not a replacement. You finish your course on the student visa, then apply for the 485 to switch into full work rights. Two distinct visas, two distinct purposes.
Post-Higher Education or Post-Vocational: which 485 stream is yours?
The Subclass 485 has two streams. As of 2024, the Post-Higher Education Work stream covers degree-level or higher qualifications, and the Post-Vocational Education Work stream covers associate degrees, diplomas and trade qualifications, according to the Department of Home Affairs. Your qualification type, not your preference, decides which stream you apply under.
This is the first fork in the road, and families often get it wrong. Did your child finish a Bachelor’s, Master’s or PhD? That’s the Post-Higher Education Work stream. Did they complete a diploma, an associate degree or a trade qualification from a vocational provider? That’s the Post-Vocational Education Work stream. A large share of Indian students in Australia sit in vocational education and training, so this isn’t a rare path.
Why does the stream matter so much? It sets your maximum stay and shapes your route to permanent residence, with the degree stream usually buying more time and lining up better with skilled-migration occupation lists.
How long can you stay, and why do Indian graduates get an extra year?
Indian nationals keep longer 485 stays than other graduates because of the Australia-India ECTA (Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement). In 2026, Indian Master's graduates can stay up to 3 years and PhD graduates up to 4 years, per the ECTA post-study work side letter published by DFAT. This is the biggest reason the 485 still pays for Indian families.
This is the part of the post study work visa in Australia for Indian students that competitors rarely show side by side. In 2024, Australia cut standard 485 durations for most nationalities, but Indian graduates were carved out and kept the longer periods through the trade agreement. That extra year on a Master’s, or a STEM Bachelor, is real money on the table.
| Qualification | Indian graduate (under ECTA) | Standard (non-Indian, post-2024) |
|---|---|---|
| Bachelor (incl. honours) | Up to 2 years | Up to 2 years |
| Bachelor, First-Class Honours in STEM/ICT | Up to 3 years | Up to 2 years |
| Master’s (coursework, extended, research) | Up to 3 years | Up to 2 years |
| Doctoral (PhD) | Up to 4 years | Up to 3 years |
| Post-Vocational Education Work stream | Up to 18 months | Up to 18 months |
These durations are not a consultancy estimate; they are a treaty commitment, which is why Indian graduates kept them when other nationalities did not in 2024. Last verified: 1 June 2026.
Read that First-Class Honours in STEM row again. An Indian first-class-honours engineering or computer-science graduate gets up to 3 years where a non-Indian gets 2, and that third year is often the difference between scraping skilled-work experience together and qualifying for permanent residence. So weigh duration, not just headline tuition, when comparing Australia with other destinations.
What does the 485 really cost an Indian family in 2026?
The Subclass 485 costs AUD 4,600 (about INR 3.15 lakh) for the primary applicant from 1 March 2026, a one-off visa application charge. From 1 March 2026, this charge doubled from the previous AUD 2,300, according to the Department of Home Affairs. Dependants carry separate charges, so a family of three should budget well beyond the headline figure.
Parents, this is the section you came for, so let’s lead with the numbers. The primary applicant pays AUD 4,600, about INR 3.15 lakh at today’s rate. It’s a one-time visa application charge, not an annual fee. But each dependant is charged separately, and that’s where families get caught out.
AUD 4,600
Primary applicant charge (from 1 Mar 2026) Fed. Register of Legislation, 2026
₹3.15L
INR equivalent, primary applicant At ₹68.48/AUD
AUD 2,300
Secondary applicant 18+ (≈ ₹1.57L) Fed. Register of Legislation, 2026
AUD 1,160
Dependent child under 18 (≈ ₹79k) Fed. Register of Legislation, 2026
So a couple where one partner holds the 485 and the other joins as a dependant faces roughly AUD 6,900 (about INR 4.72 lakh) in charges before health checks, biometrics and English-test costs. Add these onto living costs when you plan the year-one budget. For the full tuition and living-cost picture, see our guide to the cost of studying in Australia.
Heads-up for anyone who applied before 1 March 2026: the older AUD 2,300 charge applied to your file. The doubled fee only bites new applications lodged on or after that date, under the Migration Amendment (Temporary Graduate Visa Application Charge) Regulations 2026.
Do you qualify? The age, English and Australian-study gates
Subclass 485 eligibility rests on three gates: age, English and Australian study. Since 1 July 2024, applicants must be aged 35 or under at application, with Master by research and PhD graduates eligible up to 50, according to Study Australia. Missing any one gate blocks the application regardless of qualification quality.
Three checks decide whether you can even lodge. Let’s take them in order, because this is where applications quietly fail.
The age cap
Since 1 July 2024, you must be 35 years or under when you apply, according to Study Australia. The exception: master by research and PhD graduates, plus Hong Kong and British National Overseas passport holders, stay eligible up to 50. For most Indian graduates in their twenties this gate is comfortable; mature applicants must check it.
The English requirement
You’ll need IELTS 6.5 overall with at least 5.5 in each band, and since 23 March 2024 the test must have been taken within the last year, down from three, under the current Department of Home Affairs Temporary Graduate visa requirements. That shorter window trips up students who sat IELTS early. PTE and other accepted tests work too; our tips to crack IELTS show how to lift each band before you sit.
The Australian study requirement
You must meet the Australian study requirement: at least two academic years in a CRICOS-registered course (the Australian register of courses for international students), finished in the six months before you apply, and you must have held a Student visa in the last six months, according to Study Australia. One short one-year master’s rarely clears this alone.
The 485 eligibility checklist for Indian students
| Requirement | What Indian students must check |
|---|---|
| Age | Usually 35 or under (PhD and master by research up to 50) |
| Qualification | A completed, CRICOS-registered eligible course |
| Australian study requirement | At least 2 academic years studied in Australia |
| English | IELTS, PTE or an accepted test inside the 1-year validity window |
| Health insurance | Overseas Visitor Health Cover (OVHC) for the visa period |
| Character | Police clearances, including an AFP (Australian Federal Police) check |
| Stream | Post-Higher Education vs Post-Vocational Education Work |
| Vocational stream extra | A nominated occupation and, often, a positive skills assessment |
| Application timing | Lodge within 6 months of course completion |
What are the most common 485 refusal risks?
Most 485 refusals don’t come from bad luck. They come from a handful of avoidable mistakes that families could have caught months earlier. Here are the eight that trip up Indian graduates most often, and every one of them maps straight back to the eligibility rules above.
- Applying after the 6-month window. Lodging late can make you ineligible or lead to refusal; get registered migration advice if your timing is complicated.
- Choosing the wrong stream. A degree graduate filed under Post-Vocational, or the reverse, can sink the application.
- An English test that’s too old. The validity window is now one year, so a test from early in your course may have expired.
- A course that fails the Australian study requirement. Less than two academic years of CRICOS study is the classic disqualifier.
- A missing AFP check. Police clearances for every country you lived in for 12 months or more must be in the file.
- A vocational qualification not linked to an eligible occupation. Post-Vocational applicants need a nominated occupation and often a positive skills assessment.
- Assuming a one-year master’s qualifies. On its own it usually doesn’t meet the two-year study rule.
- Assuming you can switch back to a student visa onshore. Since 1 July 2024, Temporary Graduate visa holders cannot apply for a Student visa while in Australia, so plan the 485 as a work-to-PR or employer-sponsorship bridge, not a way to keep studying onshore.
Notice the pattern? Every one is checkable before you enrol, not after you graduate. That’s why the families we counsel who map the 485 at the course-selection stage almost never hit these walls.
Can a regional university hand you a second 485 visa?
Yes. Graduates who study and live in regional Australia can apply for a second 485. In 2026, it grants one extra year in a Category 2 area and two in a Category 3 area, according to the Department of Home Affairs, with regional guidance also summarised by Study Australia. It stacks extra work time onto the first 485.
Here’s a route many families overlook. Study in a designated regional area and you can earn a second 485 on top of the first, potentially one or two bonus years of full work rights that can decide the points test later. Worth a real conversation at the shortlisting stage, isn’t it?
So which places count? The list below splits them by category, in line with the Department of Home Affairs second Post-Higher Education Work stream rules (also summarised by Aust Migration & Settlement Services). The surprise for most families: Perth and Adelaide both count as regional for this purpose.
- Category 2 (1 extra year): Perth, Adelaide, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Canberra, Newcastle/Lake Macquarie, Wollongong/Illawarra, Geelong, Hobart.
- Category 3 (2 extra years): all other regional and remote areas of Australia.
Choosing a regional campus is as much a lifestyle decision as a visa one. If a smaller city feels right and the course is strong, the extra 485 time is a genuine bonus. To compare campuses by city and ranking, start with our list of universities in Australia.
How do you apply for the 485 without missing the 6-month window?
The Subclass 485 must be lodged within a strict window after course completion. In 2026, the Department of Home Affairs requires you to apply within 6 months of completing your studies, with an English test taken in the last year. Missing this six-month window can cost the entire post-study work opportunity.
Timing is everything here, so let’s be blunt. Miss the six-month window and the door closes. In the 485 briefings we ran for our 2026 Hyderabad cohort, the most common near-miss was police clearances arriving late, not the visa form itself. Start the paperwork the moment results are confirmed.
- Confirm your course completion letter and academic transcript. Your CoE (Confirmation of Enrolment) proves enrolment, but for the 485 you should rely on your official completion letter and transcript to show you finished a CRICOS-registered course and meet the Australian study requirement.
- Get your English result in order. The test must have been taken within the last year, according to PFEC Global.
- Gather police clearances for any country you lived in for 12 months or more across the past decade.
- Lodge within six months of completing your studies, online with the Department of Home Affairs.
- Wait for the grant. Once granted, the 485 carries full unrestricted work rights, letting you work any hours in any sector, according to Study Australia.
How long is the wait? Processing times move constantly, so the honest answer is to check the official Department of Home Affairs Global Visa Processing Times tool for your own lodge date rather than trust a fixed number. As of June 2026, that tool showed the Post-Higher Education Work stream finalising about 50% of applications in around 8 days and 90% within roughly 83 days, though complex cases and the December-to-March graduation peak run longer. That full work right, with no fortnightly cap, is the big upgrade over the student visa. Processing figures last checked: 1 June 2026.
How do you turn a 485 into permanent residence?
The Subclass 485 is a bridge to permanent residence through Australia's General Skilled Migration program. In 2026, you need a minimum of 65 points to lodge a SkillSelect Expression of Interest, though competitive invitations often need 75 to 85 points or more, per the Department of Home Affairs SkillSelect. The 485 buys the work time that builds those points.
This is the destination most families are really aiming at. The 485 isn’t PR, but it’s the runway. While you work on it, you build skilled-work experience, age points and sometimes a state nomination, then lodge an Expression of Interest (EOI) through SkillSelect (the government’s online skilled-migration system).
From there, three main General Skilled Migration (GSM) visas lead to PR. In 2026, these are the Subclass 189 (no nomination), Subclass 190 (state nomination adds five points) and Subclass 491 (a regional visa that leads to PR via the Subclass 191), according to Aussizz Group. Each draws on the same points test, and each skilled visa has its own occupation-list rules: check whether your occupation appears on the relevant list for that pathway, such as the CSOL (Core Skills Occupation List) for certain employer-sponsored routes, or the MLTSSL, STSOL or ROL skilled-occupation lists for other subclasses. Every extra year of 485 work and each state nomination can lift you over the line.
There’s also an employer-sponsored route. Since 7 December 2024, the Skills in Demand visa (Subclass 482) replaced the old Temporary Skill Shortage visa, with a new CSOL, according to MinterEllison. For 2025-26, the Core Skills Income Threshold (CSIT) is AUD 76,515 (about INR 52.4 lakh) a year, according to Pathway Migration, the minimum an employer must offer on the Core Skills stream. Clear that and a sponsoring employer is a second road to PR.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can my spouse and children come with me on a Subclass 485 visa?
Yes. You can add your spouse and dependent children as secondary applicants. Each carries a separate charge, roughly AUD 2,300 (approx. INR 1.57 lakh) for a dependant aged 18 or over and AUD 1,160 (approx. INR 79,000) for a child under 18, under the Migration Amendment (Temporary Graduate Visa Application Charge) Regulations 2026.
Does the doubled 485 fee apply to applications lodged before 1 March 2026?
No. The new AUD 4,600 charge applies only to applications lodged on or after 1 March 2026, under the Migration Amendment (Temporary Graduate Visa Application Charge) Regulations 2026. Earlier files were charged the previous AUD 2,300 amount.
Do I need a job offer to apply for the 485 visa?
No. The 485 is not employer-sponsored, so you don’t need a job offer or sponsor to apply. Once granted, it gives full unrestricted work rights, so you can job-hunt and change employers freely while building the skilled experience that counts toward permanent residence.
Which is faster to PR, the 485 itself or a state-nominated route?
The 485 is a temporary bridge, not PR. State nomination through the Subclass 190 adds five points and often produces invitations faster than the points-only Subclass 189, especially when your ANZSCO occupation sits on a state’s demand list.
Can I study a short one-year master's and still qualify for the 485?
Usually no. The Australian study requirement asks for at least two academic years of CRICOS-registered study, which most single one-year programs don’t meet alone. Many Indian students pair two qualifications or pick a longer master’s to clear the threshold before applying.
The doubled fee changes the budget, but for Indian graduates the post-study work visa in Australia still pays, mainly because of the ECTA stay advantage. Run the year-one numbers early, line up your IELTS and police clearances, and choose a course that clears the two-year study requirement. For the wider picture on courses, visas and living costs, our study in Australia hub pulls every stage together.
Ardent Overseas has counselled Indian students and families on Australian admissions and visas for years, with offices in Hyderabad and Tirupati and a team that handles the 485 stage end to end. To see how we research and verify the figures in guides like this one, read more about AOEC India.
One last reminder: the 485 rules, fees and occupation lists in this article are general information, not migration advice, and they change. Before you lodge, confirm the current position on the Department of Home Affairs website or with a registered migration agent.