If you are a young recent engineering graduate and dream of living and working in Australia; you can apply for skilled recognized graduate visa. Australia has amazing work culture and good opportunities for people skilled in IT, Medical field, Hospitality industry, and manufacturing and production industry. If you are a young, talented recent engineering graduate from a reputed or recognized organization and your occupation is present in the Australia Skilled Occupation list, you can apply for skilled recognized graduate visa.

This is a temporary visa which allows eligible recent graduates to gain work experience for 18 months in Australia. You can apply for this visa only outside Australia; but if you are a New Zealand citizen and you hold a special category visa under subclass 444, then also you can apply for this visa.

The visa information below should only be used as a guide. If you want better, clearer understanding on which particular visa is appropriate for your circumstances, then we would request you to Contact Us. The team of expert consultants of Visas Abroad will provide you the knowledge, support and understanding needed to turn your dreams of living abroad a reality.

Benefits of Skilled Recognized Graduate (Subclass 476):

This is temporary working visa for young recently passed out eligible engineering graduates and you can enjoy the following benefits with it:

• You can work and live in Australia temporarily for a period of 18 months
• you can freely travel, unrestricted work rights, enroll in professional studies, improve your English skills
• you can take your eligible family members who can also live, work or study in Australia during the time of your stay in Australia
• if you meet the eligibility criteria you can apply for permanent residency

 Eligibility Criteria for the Applicants:

You can check for the below eligibility criteria to check if you can apply for Skilled Recognized Graduate visa:

• Your age is below 31 years
• You have completed an engineering graduation program from a recognized institute in past two years
• you are applying for this visa first time which means that you have not held any Skilled Recognized Graduate visa under subclass 476 or a temporary graduate visa under subclass 485 in the past
• You have proficient English language skills
• You meet health and character requirement of Australian government. You need to submit police certificate from each country where you have lived in the past 10 years. You also need to undergo medical examination and submit medical certificate while applying for this visa.
• You must not have any outstanding debts to Australian Government or must have been repaid any outstanding debts to Australian government before this visa is granted. This condition also applies to all family members accompanying the applicant to Australia.

English Language Requirements:

• If you are citizen of UK, USA, Canada, New Zealand ore republic of Ireland, or you hold a valid passport of these countries you are considered to meet the English language requirement.
• For English language you need to provide evidence that your language requirements for Australia are met. The language scores that are acceptable with the following education providers are listed below:
  • ILTES (International English Language Testing System) Minimum Test Score:

 An overall score of at least 6 ELB bands with the minimum score of 5 ELB bands in each of the four components that is (listening, reading, writing, and speaking) undertaken in three years immediately before applying.

• Occupational English Test(OET) Minimum Test Score:

 A score of at least B in each of the four test component of an Occupation English language test that has been undertaken immediately three years before filing the visa application.

• Test of English as a Foreign Language(TOFEL) Minimum Test Score:

A total score of at least 64 with minimum score of 4 for listening, 4 for reading, 14 for writing and 14 for speaking, in TOFEL test must have been undertaken in the three years immediately before applying.

• Pearson Test Of English(PTE) Academic minimum test score:

An overall score of at least 50 with a minimum score of 36 in each of the four test components listening, reading, writing and speaking in a PTE Academic test.

• Cambridge English Advanced (Certificate in Advanced English) Minimum Test Score:

An overall score of at least 169 with minimum score of 154 in each of the four test components listening, reading, writing, and speaking in a CAE test undertaken on or after 1 January 2015.

Requirements about engineering qualification:

It is important that you must have successfully completed your engineering degree from a recognized educational institution. It’s not enough to study from any institute or college affiliated with a recognized educational institution; the institute must be reputed.

 You must have completed your engineering degree in the past two years in one of the following qualifications:

• bachelors degree
• masters degree
• doctoral degree
• postgraduate diploma

 Your engineering graduation must have specialization or major sequence of study in one of the following fields:

• civil engineering
• structural engineering
• chemical engineering
• environmental engineering
• electrical and electronics engineering
• mechanical, production and plant engineering
• mining and material engineering

Documents checklist for Skilled Recognized Graduate (Subclass 476):

Completed and Filled Application Form:

• To apply for Skilled Recognized Graduate visa, you need to complete an application form 1276 available on the official website of Australian Immigration Authority.
• Include Form 47a or Form 80 for any family member who is dependent on you:
• In case, you have a child or other dependent member whose age is equal to or less than 18 years of age, you need to fill form 47a. If the age of the dependent person other than partner is above 18 years you need to fill Form 80.
• In case you want to take any adult more than 16 years of age it is important to submit personal particulars of health, character and financial assessment.

Identification documents:

• Certified copies of your current passports or travel documents of all people included in your application and the issue/ expiry dates of passport
• Two recent passport sized photos and personal details of each person applying for this visa

Name Change Document:

• If there is a name change or name of any applicant has changed please provide evidence to support name change.

Identification proof including both parent names:

• A certified copy of your birth certificate clearly showing names of both the parents. In case you don’t have a birth certificate and cannot show any certified copy of identification pages you must show other certified proofs such as, family book showing parents, court-issued document, identification proof issued by government, etc…..

Education Qualification and Experience Related documents:

• While applying for any visa it’s very important to submit all the important documents related to educational qualification and professional work experience. You only need to submit certified copies of original documents unless specifically requested by Australian government for more such documents. You need to provide the following documents:
  • Academic transcript for your engineering qualification in the discipline  that is approved by Australian government listed above
  • Letter of completion for your qualification in the discipline of Engineering

Relationship Status Information:

• Certified copies of marriage certificates or relationship registrations for you and any other person included in your application is compulsory even if your partner may not be going to Australia with you.
• If you are living in a defector relationship: independent evidence that you have been in the current relationship for at least 12 months. You need to provide related evidence for this.
• If you are widowed, divorced, or are permanently separated, submit a certified copy of the death certificate or, divorce documents.
• If your partner for any reason does not intend to come to Australia with you

Character Information:

• Police verification of you and all the other people in your application is compulsory to prove that the applicants have clean criminal records.
  • It is very important to have a Police verification of all the people included in the application. You need to provide an evidence that all the family members along with principal applicant have undergone Australian Federal Police National Police Check
• In case you or anyone in your family has worked with armed forces of any country, a certified scanned color copy of military service record or discharge paper is required.

Proof of age:

• You must submit birth certificate or any other government certified proof of your age in order to apply for visa. You must be under 50 years of age unless you are exempted. Exemption is provided only to high skilled professionals like researcher, scientist, and medical practitioner.

English Language Eligibility:

• In order to apply for Permanente Resident visa it is very important to meet the language proficiency of English. You can appear for different English qualification tests, but you must meet the minimum eligibility score for that exam. You can give any one of the following listed exams:
  • International English Language Testing System (IELTS)
  • Occupational English Test (OET)
  • Test of English Language internet Based Test (TOFEL bit)
  • Pearson Test English (PTE)
  • Cambridge Advanced English (CAE)
• For each of your dependants aged 18 years or older at the time you apply, one of the following conditions must be true:
  • They have functional English.
  • If they have less than functional English, a statement indicating that you intend to pay second visa application charge is required.

Processing time for Skilled Recognized Graduate (Subclass 476):

If you have submitted your visa application and are concerned with the amount of time it will take for your application to process, this section offers all the information you need. According to Australian Immigration Department website, the average processing time for applications filed under Skilled Recognized Graduate Visa under Subclass 476 is around 2-3 months. But, every case file is unique and requires a fair amount of time for its evaluation. You can track your application online on the department website to know the application status.

 Obligations for Skilled Recognized Graduate (Subclass 476):

• Once you have been given Skilled Recognized Graduate visa you need to abide by the visa conditions:
  • Obey Australian laws: you and your family members must comply with all Australian laws
  • Engage in any type of employment: The best part of applying for Skilled Recognized graduate visa you are free to engage in any type of employment during the time of visa validity
  • Duration of stay: This is a temporary visa and allocated for a period of 18 months. You must stay in Australia only for the validity period of your visa.