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The Working Holiday Visa in Australia (subclass 417) is a temporary visa ideally suited for young people who want to travel and work in Australia for a year.
If you are aged between 18 and 31 and hold a passport from one of the eligible countries, you are entitled to apply for an Australian Working Holiday visa!
This type of visa is really popular amongst young travellers and backpackers as it offers opportunities to explore Australia and its amazing lifestyle whilst also allowing you to work and study such as English Language.
While holding a Working Holiday Visa in Australia, you could either settle down in one place or you can travel around and meet new people along the way. If your goal is to tick off all the places of your bucket list, the Working Holiday Visa is made for you! Australia is extremely backpacker friendly and has billions of things to show you!
To make things easier, Go Study Australia has come up with a list of the basic criteria to be granted a Working Holiday visa in Australia:
We strongly advise you to visit the Department of Immigration and Border Protection website to make sure you gather accurate and trustworthy information about all the requirements to apply for a Working Holiday visa. Download the PDF document that contains the 1150 form to learn more about this type of visa.
If you don’t meet the requirements don’t panic! You can still work and travel in Australia with a Student Visa. Contact Go Study now to benefit from our free support.
The Working Holiday Visa in Australia is not open to all the nationalities. Only 19 countries are currently on the list of eligible countries.
What if your country is not on the list? Don’t panic. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you are not entitled to come Down Under. There are other alternatives such as the Work and Holiday Visa (subclass 462), and the very popular Student Visa (Subclass 500).
Below there is the list of countries that currently has a reciprocal working holiday arrangement with Australia:
The fees assigned to lodge an application to obtain a Working Holiday visa through the Australian Government site is $440 (AUS). Work out exactly how much you will be paying in your home country by checking currency exchange rates.
You can extend your Working Holiday visa for one year. In order to be eligible for a second Working Holiday visa, you must:
If you are not eligible for a second Working Holiday visa, other solutions exist to extend your stay in Australia.
Contact us for a free consultancy.
In this section, we carefully selected and answered some of the most frequently asked questions that we encountered regarding the Working Holiday visa scheme.
There are two ways to lodge an application for a Working Holiday Visa in Australia:
Download this PDF form in which you will find all the documents needed and steps required to successfully lodge your visa application.
The truth is, it depends on several factors. In general terms and assuming you have provided all the documents enquired by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, then the visa grant notice can take between 2 to 4 weeks to be issued.
In some other cases, visa applications can take up to 8 weeks if there is a presence of criminal offence or a medical statement pending to confirm.
You have one year to enter Australia from the date that your visa was approved.
Once you put your foot on Australian territory, your visa permit starts its period of validity, hence you will have 12 months of stay. Also, be aware that you can leave and re-enter Australia as many times as you wish during the course of your visa.
Working Holiday visa holders are entitled to do any kind of work regardless its nature. For instance, you could seek casual, part-time or full-time employment.
However, one important thing to bear in mind before applying for jobs is that this visa has a restriction in terms of work length. Unfortunately, you can’t be employed by the same employer for more than 6 months.
Therefore, the fact you can only work for a company for no longer than 6 months makes it difficult for some employers to consider hiring you. This is why many people opt for a Student Visa instead, as you are allowed to work 40 hours every 2 weeks and your visa can last several years.
Working Holiday visa holders are also eligible to study in Australia for a period no longer than 4 months while maintaining the same visa status.
Go Study can assist you to find the right English course, specialised studies or vocational training course.
Contact us today, and let our student counsellors know what you are interested in.
Please note that the immigration legislation is changing quickly and GO STUDY is not authorised to give immigration assistance. We are working to ensure our content up-to-date to assure you get the right information. If you need more info, feel free to contact GO STUDY Australia via [email protected] so we can put you in contact with a migration agent or visit the Australian Immigration website.
Still indecisive about your journey to Australia? Not sure yet where to start? We can help you with that – talk to one of our counsellors now to explore your options.
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Contact us now for a free consultancy.