Temporary Graduate (485) · Visa ending
485 visa ending: the routes that remain
The 485 was granted to buy time, and the time is the point: it is the window in which a graduate becomes a sponsored worker or a nominated skilled migrant. Most people who lose it did not run out of routes; they ran out of months, because the skills assessment, the expression of interest and the conversation with the employer all started in the last year instead of the first. This page sets out what can still be lodged from a 485, what each needs, and the order to run them in.
By Keshab Chapagain, registered migration agent (MARN 1576536) since 2015 · WIDEN, Sydney · Reviewed October 2026
Keshab Chapagain · MARN 1576536 · Registered since 2015 - Hard stop
- Your 485 end date
- 482 Core Skills
- 1 year relevant experience, CSOL, A$79,423+
- 190 / 491
- 65 points, skills assessment, under 45, nomination
- Second 485
- Regional higher-education graduates only
- Family on a new 485
- Exclusion announced, no start date
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About the CPD →MARN 1576536
Thirty minutes to rank the routes against your end date.
In the consultation I take your qualification, occupation, work history, English result, age and visa end date, score the points, check the lists and the sponsor position, and tell you which routes are open and in what order, with what has to be lodged by when. You leave with a written summary.
What it costs. $330 inc. GST for 30 minutes by video with Keshab Chapagain (MARN 1576536), credited in full against our professional fee if you engage WIDEN for the application.
The dates
- Your 485 end date. Any onshore application must be lodged before it, so that a bridging visa keeps you lawful. A 190 or 491 cannot be lodged until you are invited, so the expression of interest has to be in long before the end date, not near it.
- Skills assessment validity. Most assessing authorities' results last two or three years. One done for the 485 vocational stream may have expired; one done now serves the 482, 190, 491 and 186.
- English result. Points-test results are generally accepted for three years from the test date; the Department's and the states' rules differ, so check the date on yours.
- Age. Points fall at 33 and again at 40; the skilled and employer-sponsored permanent visas close at 45.
Employer sponsorship: the 482
The strongest route from a 485 is a nomination from the employer you already work for, in the occupation you already do. The Core Skills stream needs the occupation on the Core Skills Occupation List, a salary of at least A$79,423 or the market rate if higher, and at least one year of relevant full-time-equivalent experience in the last five years, which for most 485 holders is the year on the 485 itself. The employer has to be, or become, an approved sponsor, and the nomination has to be genuine: a position that exists, paid at the market rate, in a business that needs it. Processing has been months for Core Skills, with onshore applicants ahead of offshore ones under the priorities in force since 19 September 2026. Two years on the 482 with a sponsor then opens the 186. Start the conversation with the employer at least a year before the 485 ends; a business that has never sponsored needs time to become one. See the 482 guide and, for the employer, whether a small business can sponsor.
State nomination: 190 and 491
A 485 holder with Australian study, a year or two of Australian work in the occupation and a good English result often reaches 65 points without noticing, and 75 or more with a Proficient or Superior English test. The state is the gate: each has its own list and criteria, most favour applicants living and working in the state, and the state nomination adds 5 points for the 190 and 15 for the 491. The 491 is provisional and leads to permanent residence after three years in a regional area; the 190 is permanent on grant. The 2026–27 program cut regional 491 places sharply and raised the 190 allocation, so the 190 is the more realistic target in most states this year. Lodge the expression of interest as soon as the skills assessment is in hand; the invitation is what takes time. Check the score on the points calculator and the states on the nomination tracker.
The second regional 485
The Second Post-Higher Education Work stream is for holders of the first higher-education 485 who lived, studied and worked in a regional area while on it. It adds one or two years depending on the region's category, with the same age and English rules, and it is the one route that extends the window rather than ending it. It does not exist for the vocational stream. Where it is available it is worth taking even when another route is running, because it keeps the points-tested application onshore and lawful while the invitation comes.
Partner
If you are married to, in a registered relationship with, or have lived for 12 months as the de facto partner of an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen, an onshore partner application lodged before the 485 ends carries a bridging visa with work rights. The charge is the highest of any visa and decisions take well over a year; the evidence has to show a genuine, continuing relationship from the start. See the 820/801 guide.
Further study
Since 2 October 2026 most temporary visa holders in Australia can no longer lodge a Student visa onshore, and a further course from a 485 now generally has to be applied for from outside Australia, where the Genuine Student requirement is tested against the whole history. A course taken to hold a visa after a 485 is the pattern it is designed to refuse. The student visa changes page has the current list of affected visas and the exemptions.
Leaving in time
Leaving before the 485 ends keeps every route open: a 190 or 491 invitation can be accepted from outside Australia, an employer can nominate for an offshore 482, and the record stays clean. Overstaying, or lodging something weak to get a bridging visa, costs more than it buys: an unlawful period, a section 48 bar, and in some cases a three-year exclusion. See my visa is expiring soon.
The order
- Skills assessment first, in the occupation you work in. Every route except partner needs it, and it takes months.
- English test, if a higher band is within reach: 10 or 20 points for a day's work.
- Expression of interest for the 190 and the 491 in the states whose lists carry the occupation.
- The sponsorship conversation with the employer, with the skills assessment in hand.
- The second regional 485 if you qualify, lodged before the first ends.
- Book the consultation at the start of the last year, not the last month.
Not sure which visa fits you?
Answer three questions. An automated guide points you to the route that usually applies. General information only.
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Tell Keshab your situation and your question. Keshab reads it personally and replies within a business day. Asking costs nothing. Advice on your own case is the paid consultation.
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Pick a time — no enquiry needed →Questions we get asked first
My 485 ends in a few months and I have no sponsor. What is realistic?
Three questions decide it: is your occupation on a list with a positive skills assessment, do you have 65 points or more, and will the employer you work for now nominate you. A yes to the first two opens a 190 or 491 expression of interest; a yes to the third opens the 482. If all three are no, the realistic routes are a partner visa if the relationship is real, the second regional 485 if you qualify, or leaving in time and building the case from outside Australia.
Can I get a second 485?
Only the Second Post-Higher Education Work stream, for graduates who held the first higher-education 485 and lived, studied and worked in a regional area while on it. It adds one or two years depending on the region, with the same age and English rules. There is no second visa for the vocational stream.
Can I apply for a 190 while on my 485?
Yes, if invited. An expression of interest costs nothing to lodge; the state's nomination and the invitation are what take time. An onshore 190 or 491 application lodged before the 485 ends carries a bridging visa, and onshore primary applicants sit ahead of offshore ones under the processing priorities in force since 19 September 2026.
Does my part-time work during study count for the 482?
The Core Skills stream needs at least one year of relevant full-time-equivalent experience in the last five years. Part-time and casual work in the occupation counts pro rata; work outside the occupation does not. Experience on the 485 itself, in the occupation, counts in full.
Will my partner be excluded from the 485?
The 17 September 2026 package announced that family members will be excluded from new 485 grants. It has no start date yet. Until it does, a 485 lodged with a partner is assessed under the current rules. For a partner on your current 485, nothing changes until the visa ends; the next visa decides whether they are included.
What does the consultation cost?
A$330 inc. GST for 30 minutes by video, A$550 for 60 minutes where the points, the sponsor and the dates all have to be worked through. Credited in full against our professional fee if you then engage WIDEN.
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