Working Holiday Visa Australia
Applying for a Working Holiday Visa for Australia allows you to work while travelling throughout Australia! Experience Australia's beaches, national parks and cities while staying flexible! Apply for your Australian Working Holiday Visa.
The Australian Working Holiday Visa is for those people who are looking to gain some income to supplement their holiday expenses in Australia by taking up short-term job/s. This visa will not allow you to however, take part in the work force with long term employments.
When you enter Australia with this visa, you can stay for a maximum period of 12 months in Australia. You are able to study for the maximum number of 4 months with your visa. You will be able to work in Australia with this visa, but you will not be able to work for over 6 months for any of your employers in Australia. With this visa, you may be able to exit and re- enter Australia for however many times you would like, as long as your visa is valid.
In order to qualify for the Australian Working Holiday Visa, you are required to be between 18 and 30 years old. You must already be 18 years old, but you should not have turned 31 when you apply for this visa. You must be in good health and you should be able to provide medical prove of this. You may also be asked to give prove (usually a bank statement) of your ability to support yourself financially during your stay in Australia. Furthermore, you will need to have a good character in order to be considered. For details of specific character requirements, visit: http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/character-requirements/.
Australia has a Working Holiday program agreement in place with some countries, if you have a passport from the countries listed bellow, you may usually be able to apply and get this visa:
Canada, Belgium, Republic of Cyprus, Estonia, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, HKSAR (Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China), Republic of Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Republic of Korea, Malta, Taiwan, Norway, Sweden and UK.
Citizens of Chile, Turkey, Thailand and USA may be eligible to apply for the Work and Holiday Visa (subclass 462). This visa is similar to the Working Holiday Visa and will give you similar rights and opportunities.
 If you are applying for this visa for the first time, in order to be granted the visa, you must be outside of Australia when lodging your visa application. If this is your second time applying for this visa, you are able to lodge your application from either overseas or in Australia. You can lodge your visa application online or you can download a paper copy and lodge your application by post. To apply online and/ or to get a paper copy of the application form, go to: http://www.immi.gov.au/e_visa/working-holiday.htm
The current fee for the Working Holiday Visa (417) and the Work and Holiday Visa (462) is $235. This fee applies for both first time and second time applicants and it is payable in Australian dollars (AUD).
If you are an online applicant, you will be able to pay this fee online by using your credit card (additional credit card fees may apply), or you can use the Australian telephone BPAY method or you can choose to use the Internet banking option. If you are lodging your visa application from within Australia, you can pay this fee also in person with your debit card, or you can pay by bank cheque or money order. To see all payment options available to you, go to: http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/990i/how-to-pay.htm.
If you are paying with overseas currency, you will need to make sure that the currency is accepted by the High Commission of Australia. For more information please visit the official immigration Australia site.
Working Holiday Visa Australia – More information
Australia has an agreement with many countries to promote cultural interaction between the two countries through mutual exchange of visitors. As a result, travellers can enjoy a sojourn in Australia on a Working Holiday visa and even fend for their travel expenses as well.
Plan Your Holiday, Opt for the Right Visa and Make Your Trip Profitable and Enjoyable
If you are a keen traveller aged between 18 and 30 years and love to travel to Australia on a long holiday, you can take up a Working Holiday visa that will allow you to enjoy your stay in the country as well as earn some money in the process. Although it looks incredible, yet it is true that many travellers from European nations, the US, and South East Asian countries have enjoyed backpacking in the Outback region or coastal belt and earned some cash in the process as well.
Working Holiday in Australia
Ever since the working holiday program was initiated by the government in 1975, the influx of foreign tourists in the country has been on the rise.
Popular jobs where these tourists opt for work are harvest work, fruit picking, work at wineries, dairy farms, and hospitality sector. If you are keen to work on the educational sector, you can opt for teaching assignments. Many volunteer to work with NGOs or some consider wwoofing. However, all jobs are temporary in nature, even though they might offer salaries at par with those on a permanent roll.
A Second Working Holiday
Today, travellers can opt for a second Working Holiday visa. However, to get this visa for the second time, the foreigner must work for at least 3 months as a seasonal worker in Australian countryside. This time too, the duration is for a maximum of 12 months. During the tenure of the working holiday under the Working Holiday visa, the foreigner will be entitled to perks as per the laws of employment.
Working Holiday Visa – Subclass 417
Those people who have entered Australia under a Working Holiday visa, subclass 417, can work full-time or part-time during their stay in the country. The tourists can enter or leave the country as many times as they want during their sojourn in Australia.
While working in the country, the foreign visitors can even study for a maximum of 4 months. The visitors with this visa can concurrently work while studying.
The foreigners will also require furnishing:
- A health certificate
- A character certificate
- Financial security
- Funds to sustain themselves during their tenure in the country
- Funds to buy their return tickets back home
The visitors can:
- Work with the same employer for not more than 6 months.
- Visit the country primarily as a tourist.
Work and Holiday Visa—Subclass 427
Young adults up to 30 years of age can take up this visa. This visa is applicable for travellers coming from the US, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, and some more countries.
A Working Holiday visa is issued on a limited basis. If you want to primarily study or work in the country, you should choose a Student visa to study or a Work visa to work in Australia.
Unlike many countries in Europe, Australia does not have an Au Pair program. But Australia has a Working Holiday Program that promotes mutual cultural exchange that is beneficial to the visa holder and the employer that the visa holder is working for, the program promotes closer ties between those countries that Australia has a Working Holiday Program arrangement with because it allows young people between the ages of 18 and 30 to have an extended vacation in Australia, while supplementing their financial resources with employment while they are exploring the Australian continent.
The two major VISA subclasses for people wanting a working holiday in Australia are the subclasses 417 and 462. The two subclasses are based solely on country of origin for the visa holder. Subclass 417 is for people applying from:Â Belgium, Canada, Republic of Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Republic of Ireland, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Taiwan and United Kingdom. While Subclass 462 is for young people coming in from: USA, Turkey, Chile, and Thailand.
The reason why the Australian government promotes a Working Holiday Program is because it is mutually beneficial for the Australian community and the visa holder, because it promotes mutual understanding and knowledge of Australia, helps the Australian tourist trade, and gives Australian employers in the rural sector a labor pool to call on during harvest time that has a positive effect on the Australian economy. Not that you have to become a farmhand because the visa program allows for au pairs and young people involved in other forms of employment like the hospitality and tourism industry. But many young people find they do head bush and enjoy the experience immensely. The Working Holiday Program? in Australia has nearly tripled in ten years and the United Kingdom, Republic of Korea, and Germany have been the countries whose young people have made the most advantage of it. So, how do I get a Working Holiday Program visa?
- You have to have a valid passport from one of the countries that Australia specifies under the subclass of 417 or 462.
- You have to be a young person between the ages of 18 and 30.
- You must have no accompanying children.
- You have to meet the requirements set by the Australian government in regards to health, good character, and financial requirements.
- You should not have had a previous visa, unless you are applying for a second ?Working Holiday Program? visa.
- You need to be outside Australia when you are applying for the appropriate visa.
- And, you have to apply within 12 months of your intention to travel to Australia.
If you are applying for a second Working Holiday Program visa then you need to have done at least three months of work in a regional Australian area when you were on your first Working Holiday Program visa. You need to have worked in a regional area for a period of 88 days. So, that is the requirements, now let us deal with what the ?Working Holiday Program ? visa allows you to do: the visa allows you to enter Australia for a period of 12 months, and have the opportunity to extend that stay to 24 months on a second ?Working Holiday Program? visa if you have sufficiently met the stipulations set down in your first visa, the visa allows you to enter and re-enter Australia as many times as you like during the period of the visa, the visa allows you to study in Australia for up to four months, and you can work in Australia for six months with any one employer. You can apply for a Working Holiday Program visa online or by written application. Talk to your AA Education Agent about your desire to apply for a Working Holiday Program visa and they will gladly point you in the right direction.
Changes to the WHM visa program include:
From 5 November 2018, expanding the regional areas where subclass 462-visa holders can work in agriculture (plant and animal cultivation) to qualify for a second year of stay in Australia. Currently only those who work in Northern Australia are eligible.
From 5 November 2018, increasing the period in which subclass 417 and 462 visa holders can stay with the same agricultural (plant and animal cultivation) employer, from 6 to 12 months.
The option of a third-year for subclass 417 and 462 visa holders who, after 1 July 2019, undertake 6-months of specified work in a specified regional area during their second year.
Over the coming weeks, offering an increase in the annual caps to a number of countries that participate in the subclass 462 visa program.
Increase the eligible age for subclass 417 visa applicants from Canada and Ireland to 35.
How will these changes address regional workforce shortages?
The key focus is on providing farmers with immediate access to workers in key parts of regional Australia. The changes aim to increase the number of Working Holiday Makers available for seasonal work needs.
Employers will be able to retain trained and experienced employees doing agricultural (plant and animal cultivation) work for up to 12-months, rather than the previous 6-months.
The availability of a third-year visa will attract working holiday makers to work for longer in regional Australia.
What does plant and animal cultivation include?
Plant and animal cultivation includes most agricultural work, such as:-
- the harvesting and/or packing of fruit and vegetable crops
- pruning and trimming vines and trees
- general maintenance crop work
- cultivating or propagating plants, fungi or their products or parts
- immediate processing of plant products
- maintaining animals for the purpose of selling them or their bodily produce
- immediate processing of animal products including shearing, butchery, packing and tanning
- manufacturing dairy produce from raw material.
What additional parts of regional Australia will be included in the expanded arrangements?
From 5 November 2018, this will be extended to regional areas in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia, and all of Northern Territory, South Australia, and Tasmania. Details of specific postcodes will be published on the Department’s website shortly.
Are any changes being made to the subclass 462 Northern Australia initiatives?
No change is being made to the existing Northern Australia concessions:
- subclass 417 & 462 visa holders can continue to work with one employer in northern Australia for up to 12 months in Aged & Disability Care; Agriculture; Construction; Mining; and Tourism & Hospitality
- subclass 462 visa holders can continue to complete specified work in northern Australia in tourism and hospitality or agriculture, forestry and fishing industries, to become eligible for a second year visa.
How long will subclass 462-visa holders need to work in the additional regional areas to get the second year?
Participation in the second-year program is voluntary. Subclass 462-visa holders need to complete a total of three-months (88 calendar days) of specified work to be eligible to apply for their second-year visa. They may combine work completed in any existing specified industry and location with new industries and locations to meet the work requirement.
What types of work completed will count towards third-year eligibility?
Specified work for the third-year visa are the same as the eligibility for specified work for the second-year visa.
