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The Second Temporary Graduate Visa for Regional Graduates: Categories 2 and 3, the Two-Year Residence Rule and the Tasmania Exception

Australia rewards study outside Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane with a second Temporary Graduate visa. It is not an add-on to the first: you apply for it separately, after holding the first 485 and living in a designated regional area for at least two years. It adds one year after study in a Category 2 area and two years after study in Category 3 or in Tasmania.

Leonid Kurza, co-founder of EdumappleBy Leonid Kurza · co-founder of Edumapple · checked

  • +1 yearCategory 2
  • +2 yearsCategory 3 and Tasmania
  • 2 yearsregional residence needed first
  • ₹1.5 lakhvisa charge

The categories

CategoryPlacesSecond 485
1 — major citiesSydney, Melbourne, BrisbaneNot available
2 — cities and major regional centresPerth, Adelaide, Canberra, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Newcastle and Lake Macquarie, Wollongong and Illawarra, Geelong, Hobart1 year (2 years in Tasmania)
3 — regional centres and other regional areasAll other locations, such as Darwin, Townsville, Cairns, Ballarat, Launceston2 years

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What the full path looks like

An Indian student who completes a two-year master's at Charles Darwin University in Darwin can hold a three-year first 485, then, after living in a regional area for two of those years, apply for a second 485 of two years: up to five years of open work rights after the degree, plus the five regional points. The same master's in Sydney gives three years and no extra points.

Universities on this site by category

Category 2: ANU (Canberra), UWA (Perth), Adelaide University and Flinders (Adelaide), Newcastle, Tasmania (with the two-year exception). Category 3: Charles Darwin, James Cook (Townsville and Cairns), Federation (Ballarat).

Traps

The campus matters, not the university's head office: a regional university's course taught at a Melbourne or Sydney study centre is not regional study. Work and residence during the first 485 must also be in a regional area, so a move to Sydney for a job ends the second visa plan.

Questions from Indian students: Second 485 visa

Which cities are regional for the 485?
Category 2: Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast, Newcastle and Lake Macquarie, Wollongong and the Illawarra, Geelong and Hobart. Category 3: everywhere else outside Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, including Darwin, Townsville, Cairns, Ballarat and Launceston.
What are the conditions for the second 485?
You must hold the first post-higher-education 485 as the main applicant, have graduated from a degree at a campus in a designated regional area, and have lived only in a designated regional area for at least two years while holding the first visa.
Why does Tasmania give two years?
Home Affairs sets the second 485 at one year for Category 2 areas with one exception: Category 2 areas in Tasmania give two years, the same as Category 3.
What if I move between regional areas?
If you lived in both Category 2 and Category 3 areas, the shorter period applies, except for moves within Tasmania.
Do I get migration points for regional study too?
Yes. A qualification gained while living and studying in a designated regional area adds five points on the skilled migration test, if it also meets the Australian study requirement.

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