Staying on After Your Graduation: How to Evade the Pitfalls

Law Blog

One benefit of undergoing studies in Australia is that following the completion of your degree, you may qualify for a permanent residency citizenship through one of a number of visa categories. If a graduate student returns to their mother country, they can apply for a suitable skilled migration visa offshore.

However, applying from onshore which means applying while still in Australia is usually a better alternative, given than graduating students do qualify to apply for one of three visa types purposely set up to assist them stay in Australia once they graduate.

Skilled migration visa categories

  • Skilled—Independent visa (subclass 189) is geared to graduates who are in high demand and don't need state of family sponsorship.
  • Skilled—Nominated visa (subclass 190) is geared for graduates who are seeking to immigrate to Australia through sponsorship from an Australian state or region.
  • Skilled—Sponsored visa (subclass 489) allows applicants to stay and work in Australia for 4 years, and is a route to permanent residency.

The above-mentioned visa categories permit students to benefit from permanent residency in Australia, before which they have to satisfy a relatively rigorous core criteria as well as points test which has a pass mark of 115. The benefit of applying onshore is that graduates may substitute their education degree for the experience compulsory in the core conditions of offshore skilled visas.

However, despite the benefits graduate visas offer, graduates often commit blunders when attempting to switch from their student pass to permanent residency. The setbacks often crop up when graduates are on bridging visas due to confusion as regards what these visas allow the holder to accomplish.

Problems associated with bridging visas

Generally, when graduates apply for skilled migration visas, they need adequate time to sort out the relevant documentation needed to file their application. To this end, they obtain a bridging graduate skilled provisional visa, which permits them 6 months to work out their application.

According to Australia's Department of Immigration, all applicants must by law, send their applications within six months. However, the law is unclear on when the 6 month period commences. In reality, the 6 month period starts when the applicant first submits their application, not when they receive the bridging graduate skilled provisional visa.

Given that the bridging visa may take up to 4 months to process, applicants may only remain with two months in which to submit their skilled migration visa application, while thinking they have 6 months. This mix-up or misunderstanding can land your application in the waste bin, and take you back to square one.

It is often prudent to consult with an experienced immigration lawyer such as Andrew B Thiele & Co prior to submitting a graduate skilled visa application. Take questions and concerns to such resources to better navigate the system.

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6 January 2015

Break In: Everyday Legal Matters You Should Know About

My name is Jeanette Kennan. I have been a high school legal studies teacher for many years. As such, I am fascinated by legal cases I come across in the media. Family and friends often consult me about minor matters related to the law and although no expert, I can often point them in the right direction. It occurred to me that there may be other people out there who are not aware of basic legal issues. After all, you probably don't think about legal matters related to death, accidents or crimes until you find yourself in a crisis situation. This blog is designed to give you some introductory information about a range of legal topics. Hopefully, it will help you to be prepared and informed should a legal concern arise. I really appreciate you breaking in to my humble little site. Please enjoy.