This initiative provides for an additional Temporary Graduate visa with an extra year of post-study work rights for international students who:
- graduate from the regional campus of a registered university or institution with higher education or postgraduate qualification, and
- maintain an ongoing residence in a regional area while holding their first Temporary Graduate (subclass 485) visa
The second Temporary Graduate visa will require ongoing residence in a regional area.
The definition of regional Australia for this purpose will be the same as the definition for skilled migration – all of Australia except Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane, and the Gold Coast.
As students need to graduate from a regional campus and then spend at least two years residing in a regional area to qualify, the additional Temporary Graduate visa will be available to the first eligible cohort of graduates from 2021.
Existing Temporary Graduate visa holders may be eligible, provided they can meet these requirements.
There is no change to Student visa arrangements. This initiative simply provides an additional incentive for international students to study and live in regional Australia.
Source: https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/what-we-do/regional-migration/news/new-regional-visas