Skilled – Independent (Residence) Visa (Subclass 885) - Australian Immigration Lawyers | Australian Visa

Visa Entitlements

This visa entitles you along with any secondary applicants included in your application to reside as permanent residents in Australia.

Permanent residents of Australia are able to:

work and live in Australia permanently
study at Australian academic institutions such as schools, tafes or universities
claim healthcare which is subsidised under the Australian Medicare system and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS)
apply for applicable social security payments (subject to specific conditions and waiting periods)
apply for Australian citizenship (subject to specific conditions and residency eligibility criteria)
become sponsors for others wishing to obtain permanent residence in Australia

Main Applicant Eligibility

Points Test

Eligibility for this visa requires that you meet the basic eligibility requirements and achieve a pass mark score of 65 on Australia’s skilled migration points test.

Eligibility Requirements

You are eligible to apply for this visa subclass, if you are in Australia at the time of your application and you are one of the following:

an overseas student, or a former overseas student

currently hold a valid Skilled – Graduate (subclass 485) visa
currently hold a valid Skilled – Recognised Graduate (subclass 476) visa
currently hold a Trade Skills Training (subclass 471) visa

In addition to this, you will also need to satisfy the following basic requirements of a General Skilled Migration (GSM) visa;

Age – You will need to be less than 50 years of the age at the time of lodging your application

English language ability – You will need to demonstrate at least a competent level of English language ability.

Note: You will automatically deemed to meet this threshold requirement if you are a citizen of, or posses a valid passport from:

New Zealand
United States of America (USA)
United Kingdom (UK)
Canada
Republic of Ireland.

Nominate an occupation on the Skilled Occupation List (SOL) - You will need to nominate an occupation listed on the Skilled Occupations List (SOL) that is appropriate to your particular skills and qualifications.

Note: You cannot apply for this visa if your nominated occupation is not listed on the current SOL.

Obtain a positive skills assessment - You must provide a positive skills assessment completed by the relevant assessing authority for your nominated occupation

You are required to obtain this assessment from an approved assessing authority.

You will need to undergo an evaluation of your qualifications and skills relating to your nominated skilled occupation, to ensure that you are adequately qualified for your nominated occupation according to Australian qualifications and standards.

Have undertaken recent Australian study - Applicants for this visa who are current or former overseas students, but who do not hold a current 485,476,471 visa at the time of their application, will need to demonstrate that they meet the Australian study requirement in order to be eligible for this visa subclass.

This means they will need to have completed study in an Australian institution for an Australian degree, diploma and/or trade qualification, during the 6 months prior to lodgment of their visa application.

This qualification will need to have been completed in a total of not less than 16 calendar months, and as a result of at least 2 years of academic study, whilst holding a valid visa to study in Australia.

Additional Information

Health & Character

If you are not an Australian citizen or an Australian permanent resident, but you intend to live in or visit Australia, both you and all secondary applicants listed in your application will be required to undergo a health examination and pass specific health requirements before a visa can be issued.

You and all secondary applicants are also required to be ‘of good character’ in order to live in or visit Australia. This is determined by Australian authorities and you may be asked to provide evidence such as police certificates for every country you have resided in since turning 16 years of age for 12 months or longer over the previous ten (10) years.

Location

You and any secondary applicants that are included in your application must be in Australia both when you lodge your application for this visa and at the time that your application is decided.