Working Holiday Visa

Are you wanting to visit Australia and work at the same time? Then this is the visa for you.

• A working holiday visa will allow you to visit Australia and work for up to 12 months if you hold an eligible passport (see below).
• A working holiday visa holder can travel around Australia, as well as to and from Australia as they please.
• The visa holder can also undertake any form of paid work during their stay, with a limit of 6 months working with a single employer unless permission has been granted for longer.
• The visa also allows for up to 4 months of study in Australia.

On 19 January 2022, the 6-month work limitation was temporarily relaxed. The relaxation of this condition was initially in effect until 31 December 2022, and it has now been extended until 30 June 2023.

This change allows Working Holiday Makers (WHMs) to work with any one employer for the duration of their visa without requesting permission, and any work that is carried out before 1 July 2023 will not be counted towards the 6-month limitation period. This means that from 1 July 2023 onwards, WHMs may work for any employer for up to an additional 6 months even if they worked for that same employer before 1 July 2023.
This applies to anyone in Australia who either holds any kind of WHM visa, regardless of when they arrive, or holds a Bridging visa with condition 8547 imposed.

There are 2 Classes of Visas that fall under the working holiday visa category and the eligibility criteria varies depending on the country that you are a Citizen of.

Subclass 417 – Working Holiday Visa

Subclass 462 – Working and Holiday Visa

Subclass 417 Working Holiday Visa

Requirements

In general, to apply for a working holiday visa an applicant must:

• Be between 18-31 years of age unless you are from a country where there is an age requirement of up to 35.
• Be travelling to Australia for the main purpose of an extended holiday;
• Not have any dependent children travelling with you at any stage during your stay in in Australia;
• Hold a passport from an eligible country (see below);
• Have enough money to support yourself;
• Have enough money to purchase a return flight at the end of your stay;
• Must have no debts owed to Australia at the time of your application;
• Be able to provide a police certificate from each country that you have lived for at least 12 months, since the age of 16 or in the last 10 years if over the age of 25.
• Must meet certain health requirements, these requirements will vary with individual circumstances.
• In addition:
  • An applicant applying for their First Working Holiday visa must be outside of Australia when applying for the visa and cannot enter Australia until the visa has been approved.
  • An applicant applying for a Second Working Holiday visa, must have undertaken 3 months of work within a specified time frame in a regional area, working in plant and animal cultivation; fishing and pearling; tree farming and felling; mining or construction. The second visa can be applied for both inside and outside of Australia. If the applicant is within Australia when they submit the application, they need to apply before the expiration of the original working holiday visa and the applicant must remain in Australia until the visa is approved. If the applicant is outside of Australia when applying for the visa, the applicant must remain outside of Australia until the visa is approved.

Eligible Countries include:

• Belgium (18-30 years)
• Canada (18-30 years)
• Republic of Cyprus (18-30 years)
• Denmark (18-35 years)
• Estonia (18-30 years)
• Finland (18-30 years)
• France (18-35 years)
• Germany (18-30 years)
• Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China (including British National Overseas passport holders) (18-30 years)
• Republic of Ireland (18-35 years)
• Italy (18-35 years)
• Japan (18-30 years)
• Republic of Korea (18-30 years)
• Malta (18-30 years)
• Netherlands (18-30 years)
• Norway (18-30 years)
• Sweden (18-30 years)
• Taiwan (18-30 years) – other than an offical or diplomatic passport
• United Kingdom (18-30 years)

Subclass 462 Work and Holiday Visa

There are a limited number of subclass 462 visas granted each year from each country listed below, once the country has reached its limit no further visas will be granted for the year.

Requirements

To be eligible for a working and holiday visa an applicant must:

• Be between 18-31 years of age;
• Be travelling to Australia for the main purpose of an extended holiday;
• Not have any dependent children travelling with you at any stage during your stay in Australia;
• Hold a passport from an eligible country (see below);
• Must not have previously held a work and holiday visa or a working holiday visa;
• Have enough money to support yourself;
• Have enough money to purchase a return flight at the end of your stay;
• Meet educational requirements (differs depending on the country you are from);
• Have functional English;
• Possess a letter of support from your government for our application;
• Must have no debts owed to Australia at the time of your application;
• Be able to provide a police certificate from each country that you have lived for at least 12 months, since the age of 16 or in the last 10 years if over the age of 25.
• Must meet certain health requirements, these requirements will vary with individual circumstances.
• An applicant must be outside of Australia when applying for the working and holiday visa

Eligible countries include:

• Argentina
• Austria
• Brazil
• Chile
• China, People’s Republic of
• Czech, Peoples republic of
• Czech Republic
• Indonesia
• Israel
• Luxembourg
• Malaysia
• Mongolia
• Peru
• Poland
• Portugal
• San Marino
• Singapore
• Slovak Republic
• Slovenia
• Spain
• Switzerland
• Thailand
• Turkey
• USA
• Uruguay
• Vietnam