Australia has formally opened registrations for the 2025-26 Mobility Arrangement for Talented Early-Professionals Scheme (MATES), the headline mobility program created under the India-Australia Migration and Mobility Partnership Agreement. The online ballot went live on 1 November but the Department of Home Affairs confirmed the launch in Indian media today, 14 November 2025, triggering a surge of interest among recent STEM graduates.
MATES sits within the Subclass 403 (Temporary Work – International Relations) visa and offers up to 3,000 Indian citizens aged 18-30 a two-year, open-work visa with full employment rights and no need for employer sponsorship. Successful entrants can bring partners and dependent children without affecting the annual cap, a key selling point for multinationals moving talent between India and Australia.
![Ballot opens for Australia’s 2025-26 MATES visa, offering 3,000 places to young Indian professionals]()
The scheme uses a two-step application: candidates first pay a modest AU$25 to enter the randomised ballot, which closes on 14 December 2025. Those selected have 30 days to lodge a streamlined visa application (AU$365) via ImmiAccount, with standard health, character and English checks. Visa holders must arrive in Australia within 12 months of grant and can re-enter freely during the two-year validity, making it attractive for consulting, tech and R&D professionals who service clients in both markets.
Home Affairs says the program encourages “skills circulation”—not permanent migration—by requiring participants to depart when their visa expires or transition to an employer-sponsored pathway if they secure a longer-term role. Large employers such as Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services and the big four consulting firms are already updating global mobility policies to integrate MATES alongside graduate-rotation schemes.
For Australian businesses the ballot provides a predictable, low-friction channel to tap India’s vast pool of AI, data-analytics and renewable-energy talent. Advisers caution HR teams to monitor monthly allocation updates and prepare onboarding processes early in 2026, when the first cohort will begin arriving across Sydney, Melbourne and emerging tech hubs like Adelaide.
MATES sits within the Subclass 403 (Temporary Work – International Relations) visa and offers up to 3,000 Indian citizens aged 18-30 a two-year, open-work visa with full employment rights and no need for employer sponsorship. Successful entrants can bring partners and dependent children without affecting the annual cap, a key selling point for multinationals moving talent between India and Australia.
The scheme uses a two-step application: candidates first pay a modest AU$25 to enter the randomised ballot, which closes on 14 December 2025. Those selected have 30 days to lodge a streamlined visa application (AU$365) via ImmiAccount, with standard health, character and English checks. Visa holders must arrive in Australia within 12 months of grant and can re-enter freely during the two-year validity, making it attractive for consulting, tech and R&D professionals who service clients in both markets.
Home Affairs says the program encourages “skills circulation”—not permanent migration—by requiring participants to depart when their visa expires or transition to an employer-sponsored pathway if they secure a longer-term role. Large employers such as Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services and the big four consulting firms are already updating global mobility policies to integrate MATES alongside graduate-rotation schemes.
For Australian businesses the ballot provides a predictable, low-friction channel to tap India’s vast pool of AI, data-analytics and renewable-energy talent. Advisers caution HR teams to monitor monthly allocation updates and prepare onboarding processes early in 2026, when the first cohort will begin arriving across Sydney, Melbourne and emerging tech hubs like Adelaide.
