Commonly known as the 485 visa, the Temporary Graduate visa permits international graduates to stay and work in Australia for up to three years for university degree holders and 18 months for vocational education graduates, with different arrangements applying to holders of British National (Overseas) and Hong Kong passports. Visa holders may also bring eligible family members.

Applicants must have held a student visa within the past six months, be under 35 years old, and hold a recognized qualification from an eligible institution and course registered on the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students (CRICOS). For vocational graduates, the nominated occupation must appear on Australia's skilled occupation list. Both streams are subject to health and English language requirements.

The government has not provided an official explanation for the fee increase.

The move has triggered concern among international students. On the online forum Reddit, some users expressed surprise at the lack of advance notice, noting that previous fee adjustments had been announced ahead of time. Several described the new charge as unusually high.

The increase comes amid a broader migration policy overhaul aimed at tightening oversight of the international education sector. In 2024, permitted post-study work rights were reduced from four to six years to a range of two to four years, depending on qualification level.

The strategy includes replacing the "Genuine Temporary Entrant" requirement with a "Genuine Student Test," tightening controls on student visa processing volumes, raising English language score thresholds, narrowing the list of eligible courses, and restricting course transfers.

Under the updated rules, the English language requirement for the Temporary Graduate visa has been raised from an IELTS overall score of 6.0 to 6.5. The maximum eligible age has been lowered from 50 to 35, and further extensions of post-study work rights have been discontinued, except for graduates from designated regional areas.

The changes reflect the government's stated objective of ensuring that international graduates help address skill shortages while reinforcing that student visas are primarily intended for education rather than as a pathway to long-term residency.