Australia has set a cap on the Skilled-Recognised Graduate visa from December 22, 2023. If you’ve applied and it’s pending, you can get a refund for the Visa Application Charge through ImmiAccount.
This visa is for recent engineering grads to stay, work, or study in Australia for up to 18 months. You qualify if you finished a degree in the past two years and are under 31.
A new rule, Ministerial Direction No. 107, signed in December, gives priority to student and student guardian visa applications. The aim is to make international education more secure.
Top priority goes to:
- Student visas for Schools, Foreign Affairs, Defence, and Postgrad Research.
- Higher Ed, ELICOS, VET, and Non-Award sector applicants at Evidence Level 1 schools.
- Subsequent entrant applications outside Australia with an unmarried family member under 18.
- All Student Guardian visa applications (inside or outside Australia).
- Secondary applicants (spouse, de-facto partner, or dependent child) get the same priority.
“Subsequent entrant” means secondary student applicants not applying with the primary one.
For multiple courses, the application follows the highest level in the main course of study.
Australia Graduate Visa Limit, Visa Restrictions in Australia, Student Focus in Australia, Changes to Australian Visas, Australian Immigration Update