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MATES visa Australia (Mobility arrangement for talented early professionals’ scheme) is specifically designed for Indian nationals. This visa allows the Indian graduates and those with early career professionals in the country for up to 2 years. The visa acts as a temporary mobility pathway for Indian graduates in the early years of their career to live and work in the country. The professionals should have the necessary knowledge and skills in the targeted fields of study.

The department grants up to 3000 subclass 403 MATES stream visas every year. The Indian nationals holding a MATES visa can live and work in Australia for a period of 2 years. With this visa, you will be allowed to gain employment in Australia and gain valuable work experience in your area of expertise.

If you are an eligible Indian national applying for a Mates visa, then you will have to go through a pre application ballot system. For this, you must first register the ballot. If you are selected in the ballot, then you will be invited to apply for the visa. You cannot apply for the visa without an invitation.

The ballot system aims to provide eligible Indian nationals an equal access to MATES. The process is fair and transparent for random selection of eligible people to apply for the visa. As a primary applicant, you will be able to bring in the members of your family unit along with you. There are few conditions that are related to the ballot status, the status of the ballot can change in the program year which will depend on the following factors:

• Opening date of the registrations.
• Number of registrations received.
• Number of selections occurred.
• Whether there are extended registration and selection periods.

The ballot status can show:

• Pending- When the ballot is pending commencement or opening.
• Active- the ballot is open for you to submit your application.
• Closed- the ballot is closed and you cannot further submit the registration.
• Expired- selections have been finalized on the ballot and no further selections will be made from this ballot.

It is important to note here that you can only register if:

• The ballot registration period is open
• Only once in each ballot process

Once the ballot is closed you cannot submit a registration in that particular ballot. The fee for ballot registration is AUD 25.

An annual MATES ballot process occurs every year. If you miss the registration period for the ballot but you still continue to meet the eligibility criteria, then you can submit a registration in the future ballots that come up. After your selection in the ballot to apply for subclass 403 MATES stream visa, you will become the main applicant in the visa application. As the main applicant, you will be able to include your members of the family unit in your application.

With a Subclass 403 visa, you will not automatically get a permanent residency in the country. However, the visa can act as a route to getting a permanent residency status in Australia because it allows the individuals to gain some valuable Australian work experience which will help them to qualify for other visas that may lead to a PR.

The key benefits of the MATES visa are as follows:

• International work experience: The visa will allow you to work in the Australian job market and gain valuable international work experience which will enhance your professional profile.
• Inclusion of family members: You will be able to include the members of your family unit in your application for MATES visa.
• No requirement for sponsorship: You do not need a sponsor to apply for this visa nor there is a requirement of a job offer.
• Multiple entries: The visa will allow you unrestricted travel in and out of the country.
• Career expansion: It will allow you to expand your professional horizon and build networks within the Australian economy.
• Diverse employment opportunities: The MATES visa will give you access to the Australian job market that will allow you to explore the different employment opportunities.

To be eligible to register for a MATES visa, you will first need to apply for the MATES Ballot. In order to do so, you must:

• Create an ImmiAccount for yourself.
• Hold a valid Indian passport.
• Should have a pan card number. This should have been issued by the Indian government.
• Your age should be between 18 to 30 years (both years inclusive) at the beginning of the ballot registration.
• You should not have already registered in the MATES ballot earlier.
• You need to have a valid email address.
• You must agree to all the declarations mentioned in the registration form.
• You will need to pay the registration fee of AUD 25 for the ballot.

Once you are selected in the ballot you will have to meet some additional requirements for the grant of subclass 403 MATES stream visa.

Addional Requirements

Qualification

You should have recently graduated from an eligible educational institution along with an eligible qualification. You must have obtained your qualification within 2 years of the beginning of the ballot registration opening period. Your qualification must be equal to an Australian qualifications framework bachelor’s degree. This means that you should be holding a:

• Bachelor’s degree
• Bachelor’s degree in (honors/ research)
• Post graduate diploma
• Masters degree
• Doctoral degree

It is important that your qualification should relate to one of the following industrial fields:

• Renewable energy
• Engineering
• Mining
• Information Communication Technology
• Financial Technology
• Artificial intelligence
• Agriculture Technology

The eligible educational institutions are the top 100 in the list of Indian Ministry of Education’s National Institutional Ranking framework India Rankings overall list.

English language requirements

You must meet the English language test requirements. You should  have obtained the desired result in the language test either the one year before:

• Date of submitting your valid visa application
• Or the day a decision on your application is made.

It is important that you have achieved the required test score in a single sitting.

Financial Capacity

You should be able to support yourself and your family members when you are in the country. You should establish that you have the financial capacity to take care of your expenses while you are living in the country. To prove this, you can show the evidence of an employment offer with an Australian organization. In case you do not have an employment offer, you will have to show that you have enough money to support yourself during your stay.

Health and character requirements

It is important to meet the health and character requirements, if the members of  your family unit are going along with you, they also need a health examination. You and the members who are above 16 years of age will have to get a police clearance certificate in order to meet the character requirements.

Health insurance

You will need to have an adequate health insurance policy for the duration of your stay and your health insurance should cover you medically for the necessary treatments including transportation.

Visa refusals or cancellations

You should not have previously refused visa application or a cancellation of the visa. In order to register for the ballot you can be inside or outside the country. But, you can only apply for a subclass 403 from outside Australia.

Including family members

You will be able to include the eligible members of your family unit for example your spouse or partner in the ballot separately. You do not need to give the details of the family members in your ballot registration.

Once selected in the ballot, you can apply for a sub class 403 visa  and you will become the main applicant  for your visa application. Therefore, as the main applicant, you will be able to include your members of your family unit in the application.

Before application

You can only apply for this visa you are registered in the MATES palette and get randomly selected to apply. Your passport should be up to date as well as other requirements should have been met before you apply.

Gathering documentation

It is important to prepare and gather all the necessary documents beforehand.

• Accurate information has to be provided regarding your identification documents, personal details, passport issue, marriage, change of name, PAN card id and other national identity cards.
• You will also need to provide the evidence regarding your qualification. This will include the copy of the relevant qualification certificates, academic transcripts, your resume etc.

• English language proficiency documents which prove that you have achieved the required result in the language test will also be needed.
• You will need to provide evidence that you can support yourself and your family members during your stay in Australia. This will include a job offer or an employment contract with an Australian firm.
• You will also need the necessary documentation of your partner . For dependents under 18 years of age, you will need to provide identity documents and proof of your relationship with them, for example a birth certificate.

Apply for the visa

After completing the preparation of all the documents, you can apply for this visa if you have the invitation. You will have 30 days from your selection day to complete and submit the visa application online. Therefore, you must apply for the visa on or before the date specified in your notification of selection letter.

Access the online visa application form through the link generated in your ballot registration or through your ImmiAccount. After completing the online application form, you will attach all the evidence and pay the visa application charge.

After application

You will do continuous follow ups after submitting your application. In case the department requires more information from you, you will need to provide it quickly to avoid any delays in the processing of your visa. You must be outside Australia season on your application is being made. You will receive the decision writing along with a visa grant number and your visa conditions.

Depending on the completeness and the complexity of your visa application, the processing time period for a MATES visa is 10 to 20 weeks.

If you have the required eligible qualification from an approved institution then you can register for the MATES ballot in Australia. There are various criteria requirements that you will need to fulfil in order to apply for a MATES visa. All of this can become overwhelming. For this reason, our team of qualified professionals at immigration buddy will prepare a customized checklist depending upon your individual conditions. This will help in making the application process simple and quick for you.

We will ensure to follow up your application even after its submission and keep you up to date about the progress of your application.

Book your consultation with us today and start your journey towards your bright future in Australia.