Are you looking to do a working holiday in Australia? There are two visas that will allow you to do so. They are the Work and Holiday visa (subclass 462) and the Working Holiday visa (subclass 417).
The Working Holiday 417 visa is a little more lenient, having no educational requirements, english requirements or government support. The different visa subclasses have different eligible countries.
The 462 visa allows its holder to stay and work in Australia for up to 12 months. The An individual may hold a maximum of two 462 visas.
The applicant:
- Must not have previously been in Australia on a Working Holiday visa (subclass 417)
- Must not have held more than one Work and Holiday visa (subclass 462)
- Must apply outside of Australia unless they are applying for their second 462 visa
- Must be the holder of an eligible passport
- Must have a letter of support from their government unless they are Chinese, Israeli or US citizens
- Must be at least 18 years of age but not have turned 31
- Must be a genuine visitor
- Must have sufficient money
- Cannot be accompanied by dependent children
- Must have functional level English
- Must meet educational requirements
The current processing time for this visa varies between a month to two months.
Age
You must have turned 18 years of age and not have turned 31 at the time of application. You may apply for your visa before your 31st first and still be granted your visa after you have turned 31.
Eligible passports and support from applicant’s government
The applicant needs to produce a letter from the nominated agency in their country that supports their stay in Australia under the Work and Holiday program. Certain countries are exempt. Each country has a limit to the number of visas that may be granted
Eligible passports and nominated agencies and visa grant limit:
Argentina – No letter of support required (700 visas)
Austria – Ministry of Foreign Affairs (200 visas)
Chile – Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1,500 visas)
China – No letter of support required (5,000 visas)
Czech Republic – Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic (500 visas)
Hungary – Ministry of Interior (European Cooperation Department) (200 visas)
Indonesia – Ministry of Law and Human Rights (Directorate General of Immigration) (1,000 visas)
Israel – Not required (500 visas)
Luxembourg – National Youth Service (100 visas)
Malaysia – Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Wisma Putra) (100 visas)
Peru – Ministry of Foreign Affairs (100 visas)
Poland – Ministry of Labour and Social Policy (200 visas)
Portugal – Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (200 visas)
San Marino – Ministry of Foreign and Political Affairs (100 visas)
Singapore – No letter of support required (500 visas)
Slovak Republic – Ministry of the Interior (200 visas)
Slovenia – Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (200 visas)
Spain – Secretariat General for Immigration and Emigration, Ministry of Employment (600 visas)
Thailand – Office of Welfare Promotion, Protection and Empowerment of Vulnerable Groups in Bangkok (500 visas)
Turkey – Turkish Higher Education Council (YOK) (100 visas)
United States of America – No letter of support required (no limit to visas granted)
Uruguay – Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Consular Department) (200 visas)
Vietnam – Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (200 visas)
Genuine visitor
So as to maintain the integrity of the program, the applicant must seek to enter and remain in Australia with the sole purpose of spending a holiday in Australia. They must intend to adhere to their visa conditions, including work and study limitations, and will leave Australia if they are no longer hold a visa that allows them to stay. This is generally taken to be satisfied unless there is evidence that exists within their application or from a visa history that suggests otherwise.
This does not mean that an applicant cannot decide that they want to further their stay in Australia after the cessation of their 462 visa, for example, an applicant may apply to stay in Australia on a skilled worker visa or a partner visa. This cannot be their intention on applying for the 462 visa however.
Condition 8547
One of the important conditions that every 462 visa holder must understand is condition 8547.
“The holder must not be employed by any one employer for more than 6 months, without the prior permission in writing of the Secretary”
- Any work is considered employment. Au pairs are considered to be engaging in work
- Casual, part-time or full-time work is considered employment
- Workplace training is considered employment and will count toward the 6 month limit
- The business must be operating in Australia. Work for a foreign business requires special permission
- One receiving workers compensation will be considered to still be working whilst receiving payments
- Breach this condition and you visa is subject to cancellation
6 months is calculated accumulatively. You may choose to work for 2 months, go on a holiday for a month and return to that same employer for 3 months. Although the time that has passed would be 6 months, you will only be considered to have worked 5 months with that employer and can further your employment with that same employer for another month. You may, under limited circumstances, extend your 6 month limit. Learn more about condition 8547 and how you might extend your 6 month limitation in our in depth articles.
Read: Condition 8457
Read: Working Holiday Visa Condition 8547 – Extend Work With Your Employer Past 6 Months
Sufficient money
The applicant must be able to show evidence that they are able to afford their fare to leave Australia as well as support themselves while in Australia.
Fare to leave Australia
The applicant will need to have sufficient money to travel to their intended overseas destination on leaving Australia.
The applicant may submit the following evidence:
- Bank passbooks
- Bank statements
- Official letters from banks or other financial institutions (on the institution’s letterhead, dated and signed)
- Written confirmation by a third party (such as parents) and documents to show that the third party has sufficient funds through the provision of bank passbooks or bank statements
- Credit card statements or similar
Support their stay
Whilst the applicant will be able to work to support their stay in Australia through temporary or casual work, they still need to show that they are capable of financing ‘personal support’, in other words, sustaining their living and associated expenses for at least the first 3 months of their stay.
The same kind of evidence as ‘fare to leave Australia’ would count. The amount of money however is variable based on the extent to which accommodation or assistance may be provided to the applicant through relatives and friends in Australia. Generally however, an amount of AUD$5,000 in addition to the departure fare will be taken to be sufficient.
Not accompanied by dependent children
An applicant for the 462 visa may have dependent children but cannot be accompanied by them to Australia. Dependent children are not able to join them at a later date either. In the event that the applicant has dependent children, the applicant needs to demonstrate that their dependent children will not be accompanying them to Australia. This could be evidence of custody arrangements.
An applicant who has a dependent child in Australia with whom they have no contact with will satisfy this requirement.
An applicant who has a dependent child with an Australian citizen or permanent resident must still meet this requirement and show that their dependent child will not accompany them to Australia.
Pregnant 462 applicants will not meet this requirement unless they are able to ensure that they will be departing from Australia before they give birth. Evidence could include a letter from a doctor on when they are last cleared to fly and a departure ticket out of Australia that leaves before that date.
Functional level English language ability
Learn how one would meet this requirement and provide the necessary evidence.
Read: English proficiency levels
Read: English proficiency tests
Educational requirements
The applicant is required to have completed a certain level of education. This varies depending on your country of passport. You can find out the educational requirements for your passport on the Department of Home Affairs (DOHA) website.
Find: Educational requirements
If you are a US citizen, you will only need to hold a senior secondary certificate of education (graduated from a secondary school) or equivalent, such as having completed a bridging course to University. The US applicant’s qualifications must be equivalent to having completed Year 12 of study in Australia. Documents may include a:
- US High School Graduation Diploma
- International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma
- European Baccalaureate
Second 462 visa
You may, upon completion of your first 462 visa, apply for a second 462 visa. You may not apply for a third 462 visa. The applicant:
- Must have worked for at least 3 months on their first 462 visa
- Work must have been remunerated in accordance with relevant Australian legislation and awards
- Must have engaged in specific work
- Must have worked in specified areas in Australia
- Must be a genuine visitor
- Must have sufficient money
We will cover applying for a second 462 visa in a further article so look out! Subscribe here or follow us on Facebook for the latest in updates.
Can’t wait for our next article or want to learn more about the 462 visa and if you qualify? We are here to help. Call +61 2 8054 2537, 0434 890 199 or book online.
