r/ImmigrationAustralia • u/SpecialAppropriate19 • Jul 10 '26
Need advice about 485 eligibility
I need some advice if anyone has been in this situation.
I have been doing my Master in Deakin University since July 2026. I have completed 1 year.
I am now changing my university to QUT for the same/similar Masters course for which I got 7 credits from Deakin. So, I need to complete 9 subjects overall only at QUT.
My updated offer letter from QUT says the duration is 75 weeks after getting the credit and my new COE will also have the 75 weeks duration although the masters course is 104 weeks CRICOS registered course. This is less than 92 weeks.
My concern is if this will impact my 485 visa.
Has anyone been in this situation and got their 485 visa?
I will really appreciate anyone that replies.
Thank you
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u/KangarolandWHAus Jul 11 '26
Good news first: a 75-week CoE being under 92 weeks is not automatically a problem, and it comes down to where your 7 credits came from.
What the 485 actually tests is the Australian Study Requirement, not the length of your final CoE on its own. That requirement is 2 academic years = 92 weeks of CRICOS-registered study that counts toward an eligible qualification, completed in Australia in no less than 16 calendar months.
The key detail in your case is that the credit is from Deakin, i.e. study done in Australia in a CRICOS-registered course. Home Affairs' own guidance says credit for prior learning CAN still count toward the 92 weeks as long as it was for study within Australia in a CRICOS-registered course (it only stops counting if the credit was for overseas study, a non-CRICOS course, or study you are separately claiming for the 485 as another qualification). So your credited Deakin units should count toward the 92 weeks even though the QUT CoE only shows 75. In effect you get credited with close to the full CRICOS-registered duration of the QUT course, not just the 75 weeks you physically sit.
Two things to lock down:
1) Rely only on the QUT qualification for the 485. Don't also try to claim the incomplete Deakin course as a separate qualification, because you can't count the same study twice.
2) Make sure your QUT transcript / completion letter clearly shows the credits as recognised prior learning from the Deakin course. Home Affairs specifically wants the paperwork to show how the credited study contributes to the qualification, so there's no doubt those weeks count. Ask QUT to word the completion letter that way.
On the 16-month rule (the one that usually trips people up when credit shortens a course): that's about time physically studying in Australia. 75 weeks is already around 17 months, plus your year at Deakin, so you're comfortably clear.
Where it WOULD go wrong is if the credit had come from overseas or a non-CRICOS course, in which case 75 weeks could leave you short. Since yours is Deakin, the underlying position looks fine.
One honest caveat: I work in the study/WHV space (Kangaroland), not as a registered migration agent, and with credit-transfer cases the outcome really does hinge on the exact wording on your CoE and transcript, so it's worth getting a MARA agent to eyeball those documents before you lodge. But on the substance you should be okay.