Today the regulations for the promised extensions and reinstatements of the subclass 485 - Temporary Graduate visa, and the two regional visas, the subclass 489 - Skilled - Regional (Provisional) visa and subclass 491 – Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa were registered.

These extraordinary amendments to visa grant dates are to assist those who were affected by the border closures due to the pandemic.

There will be no need for any application or notification and will apply automatically for the relevant visa holders, including secondary visa holders.

To be eligible the primary visa holders must:

• have been overseas between 1 February 2020 and 14 December 2021,

• hold or held their respective visa at the time they were overseas,

• not have had their visa cancelled, and

• not have been granted another substantive visa.

For 485 visa holders, their visas will be extended or reinstated until 30 September 2022. The purpose of this is so they can enter Australia to lodge a 485 visa replacement visa, a new stream expected to be available from 1 July 2022.

For regional visa holders, the benefits are even more generous. For legacy 489 visa holders, their visa grant duration will increase from four years to seven years. For 494 and 491 visa holders, their visas will be extended from five to eight years. Again, the primary visa holder must meet the above criteria.

These extensions should give any affected regional visa holder plenty of time to meet minimum requirements for either a subclass 887 - Skilled – Regional visa for 489 visa holders, or a 191 – Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) visa for 494 or 491 visa holders as there is more than an additional year added to compensate for the maximum possible time the borders were shut.