Free until 31 December 2026YourVisaSite's released features are free until then. No card needed.
Official sources
Visa news
Changes to Australian visas checked against the government source, plus independent reporting, videos and our own posts. The official page is always the final word.
Posts and short videos we have published, newest first. Each links to the official source it relies on; the official page remains the authority.
Published by YourVisaSite
Month wrap-up: five free lookups, and feedback
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A month-end recap: the five free lookups in the YourVisaSite reference library covered this month.
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CRICOS. Courses registered for overseas students, by title, code or provider.
Occupations. Search by ANZSCO code or title and see which lists include each one.
Assessing authorities. Which authority assesses each listed occupation, with a link to its website where one is published.
Regional postcodes. Check a postcode against the designated regional area instrument.
Forms. Find a Home Affairs form by number or title, then open the Department's own copy.
Every entry links to its official publisher. The lookup is a starting point, and the source remains the authority.
Corrections are welcome. The Feedback link in the site footer takes them without an account. Please leave out private case details.
https://yourvisasite.com/reference
General information only. Independent service; not affiliated with the Department of Home Affairs or the Australian Government.
Published by YourVisaSite. Official information from the Department of Home Affairs. General information only, not migration advice. The official page remains the authority.
Published by YourVisaSite
Free to read, no account needed
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YourVisaSite is independent Australian visa information. It is free to read, and no account is needed.
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Three parts of the site are open without signing in:
Visa pages. Each one sets out the main requirements, forms and government charges, and links to its official Department of Home Affairs source.
The reference library. Occupations, forms, assessing authorities, regional postcodes, CRICOS courses and legislation, each linked to its official publisher.
Processing times. The official published figures, shown with the date they were captured.
Released features are in a free beta through 31 December 2026. No card is required.
The site does not assess eligibility or act as a migration agent. The official source remains the authority.
https://yourvisasite.com/
General information only. Independent service; not affiliated with the Department of Home Affairs or the Australian Government.
Published by YourVisaSite. Official information from the Department of Home Affairs. General information only, not migration advice. The official page remains the authority.
Published by YourVisaSite
Study hub: courses, universities, compare and pathways
Short video with no sound; all information is shown as on-screen text. Study hub. Course facts, side by side, with their sources. Search curated courses and 42 universities. Compare two or three courses side by side. Read pathway information with official links.
Prospective international students often compare courses across many provider websites. The Study hub on YourVisaSite puts the published facts in one place and keeps the source attached.
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It has four parts:
Courses. A curated selection of sourced listings, searchable by field, state and qualification.
Universities. The 42 universities in Study Australia's directory.
Compare. Two or three courses side by side.
Pathways. Temporary, provisional and permanent visa categories, each linked to its Home Affairs page.
The hub is not the full course register. Availability, entry requirements and fees should be confirmed with the provider and on the official CRICOS register. Study does not lead automatically to permanent residence.
https://yourvisasite.com/study
General information only. Independent service; not affiliated with the Department of Home Affairs or the Australian Government.
Published by YourVisaSite. Official information from the CRICOS (Department of Education). General information only, not migration advice. The official page remains the authority.
Published by YourVisaSite
Check twice, submit once: habits before lodging
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"Check twice, submit once" is a useful discipline for visa applicants, and for the HR teams and practitioners who prepare material with them.
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Four general habits before a form is lodged:
- Start from the official Home Affairs page for the visa, not from memory or a forum thread.
- Open each form from the Department's own site, so it is the current version.
- Check names, dates and passport details against the source documents.
- Review the whole application once more before submitting.
These are general habits. The Department's own instructions come first, and individual circumstances are a matter for a registered migration agent or an Australian legal practitioner.
YourVisaSite's forms page searches Home Affairs forms by number or title and opens the Department's own document. Nothing is filled in or submitted on the site.
https://yourvisasite.com/reference/forms
General information only. Independent service; not affiliated with the Department of Home Affairs or the Australian Government.
Published by YourVisaSite. Official information from the Department of Home Affairs. General information only, not migration advice. The official page remains the authority.
Published by YourVisaSite
Working Holiday Maker ballot: what is announced
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For regional employers and others who work with Working Holiday Makers, one item on the Home Affairs "Australian Government Migration Policy Changes" page is worth noting.
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What is listed
A Working Holiday Maker ballot for years two and three, with a regional work requirement. The same item refers to stabilising Working Holiday Maker processing times to three months.
What the page says about timing
The changes "have begun to be implemented and will be progressively rolled out over the next 12 months". No start date is given for the ballot.
In practice
This is an announced change without a published start date. The Department's page is the source to watch, and we have added nothing beyond its wording.
YourVisaSite's Working Holiday visa (subclass 417) page links to the official Home Affairs page for that visa.
Published by YourVisaSite. Official information from the Department of Home Affairs. General information only, not migration advice. The official page remains the authority.
Published by YourVisaSite
How to read official processing times
Short video with no sound; all information is shown as on-screen text. Processing times. Processing times describe past decisions. Figures show when 25, 50, 75 and 90 per cent were decided. Streams each carry their own reporting period. Dates show when figures were published and captured.
Anyone planning a start date or a relocation around a visa decision needs to know what published processing times do and do not say.
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Home Affairs publishes the time within which 25, 50, 75 and 90 per cent of past applications for a visa were decided. Each stream has its own reporting period.
Three points for planning:
- The figures describe decisions already made. They do not predict any one application.
- The gap between the 50 and 90 per cent figures shows how much decided applications varied.
- A figure noted weeks ago may no longer be current, so confirm it in the Home Affairs processing times guide.
YourVisaSite's tracker shows the official figures visa by visa, with the reporting period, the source publication date and the date they were captured.
https://yourvisasite.com/tracker
General information only. Independent service; not affiliated with the Department of Home Affairs or the Australian Government.
Published by YourVisaSite. Official information from the Department of Home Affairs. General information only, not migration advice. The official page remains the authority.
Published by YourVisaSite
Practice software beta: documents, money, client access
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YourVisaSite's practice software is in private beta. Our first post covered who can apply. This one covers three parts of the workspace that are working today.
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Documents
Word templates, PDF form maps and documents generated from a matter.
Practice money records
Fee schedules, invoice drafts, bank statement import and a Xero export. No payments run through the platform, and it never holds, pools, splits or transfers professional, client or trust money.
Client workspace
A permission-based space for shared requests and documents, with matter document uploads.
Planned, not open yet: remote signing, firm workspaces with team members, paid consultations and software billing.
Australian lawyers can apply now. Applications from registered migration agents are not open yet; agents can register interest through the contact page. The workspace is free during the beta.
https://yourvisasite.com/for-practitioners
General information only. Independent service; not affiliated with the Department of Home Affairs or the Australian Government.
Published by YourVisaSite. Official information from the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority. General information only, not migration advice. The official page remains the authority.
Published by YourVisaSite
Partner visa (onshore): two stages, applied together
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Home Affairs lists the onshore Partner visa on one page. It has two stages.
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Subclass 820 is the temporary stage. Subclass 801 is the permanent stage. The two are applied for together, in Australia.
For anyone supporting a colleague, friend or family member through the process, the Home Affairs page is the place to start. It sets out what evidence is required and how a relationship is assessed.
The YourVisaSite guide page gathers the basics in one place: visa type, main requirements, related forms, official processing times and the government charge table. It links to the official page for each stage, and to the Home Affairs page on family violence and visas.
Published by YourVisaSite. Official information from the Department of Home Affairs. General information only, not migration advice. The official page remains the authority.
Published by YourVisaSite
State and territory occupation lists in one place
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There is no single national list for state-nominated skilled visas. Each state and territory runs its own nomination program and publishes its own occupation list.
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For employers, HR teams and applicants following one role across jurisdictions, that means reading several government sites.
The YourVisaSite reference page brings the starting points together:
- All eight jurisdictions, A to Z, each with a link to the government's own page.
- Dated, searchable copies of the New South Wales, ACT and Northern Territory lists.
- Flags showing which subclass an entry was listed for when the copy was captured.
The Northern Territory copy is historical and is labelled that way. The copies are a finding aid. The official page sets whether nomination is open, and on what terms.
Published by YourVisaSite. Official information from the Department of Home Affairs. General information only, not migration advice. The official page remains the authority.
Published by YourVisaSite
Temporary Graduate visa (485): where to check
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For international graduates, and for the employers and practitioners who work with them, the Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485) is a frequent topic. It is also one where second-hand summaries go out of date.
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The Department of Home Affairs publishes the requirements, and a separate page for each of the three streams: Post-Vocational Education Work, Post-Higher Education Work and Second Post-Higher Education Work. Requirements differ between streams, so the first step is confirming which one a statement refers to.
This post quotes no figures. Charges, processing times and eligibility settings change, and the official page is the place to confirm them.
YourVisaSite keeps a plain summary of the 485, with the official processing times, the government charge table and a link to the Home Affairs page: https://yourvisasite.com/visas/485
General information only. Independent service; not affiliated with the Department of Home Affairs or the Australian Government.
Published by YourVisaSite. Official information from the Department of Home Affairs. General information only, not migration advice. The official page remains the authority.
