Working Holiday Visa
An Australian Working Holiday Maker visa allows the holder to travel and work in Australia for a period of up to 12 months with the opportunity to extend it for a further 12 months.
To Qualify for a Working Holiday visa for Australia, you must:
- Be aged between 18 - 30 (inclusive) at the time you apply
- Have no children or other dependents
- Be going to Australia for the sole purpose of holidaying (any work undertaken is purely for financial support while travelling)
- Be able to show sufficient funds for a return or onward fare as well as sufficient funds for the first part of your stay.
- Be a citizen of one of the following countries with at least 1 year left on your passport:
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Belgium Denmark France Ireland, Republic of Korea, Republic of* Norway United Kingdom |
Canada Estonia Germany* Italy Malta* Sweden |
Cyprus, Republic of* Finland Hong Kong* Japan* Netherlands Taiwan* |
*Passport holders from these countries must apply for a Working Holiday Visa is their country of Passport:
The main purpose of this visa is to allow you to combine a holiday with work and supplement your funds with short-term, casual work in Australia. Holders of this visa are only allowed to work for a single employer for a maximum of six months before they must move on to another employer if they are to continue working.
A Working Holiday visa for Australia will initially be granted for a period of 12 months. If during this 12 months you spend three months (88 days) working a designated occupation in rural Australia, you can apply to have your visa extended to 24 months.
Q: Why do I need a Working Holiday Visa for Australia?
A: If you are travelling to Australia on a holiday or gap year and plan to supplement your spending money through employment, you will need to ensure you have a valid work permit. For young people aged between 18 and 30 the most accessible way of doing this is with a Working Holiday Visa.
If you do not intend to work in Australia and are visiting for 3 months or less, you will only require an Electronic Travel Authority(ETA visa). You can also apply for this visa online through our website.
To be eligible for a Working Holiday Visa for Australia, you must:
- Be aged between 18 - 30 (inclusive) at the time you apply
- Have no children or other dependents
- Be going to Australia for the sole purpose of holidaying (any work undertaken is purely for financial support while travelling)
- Be able to show sufficient funds for a return or onward fare as well as sufficient funds for the first part of your stay.
- Be a citizen of one of the following countries with at least 1 year left on your passport:
Q: Where do I apply?
A: A Working Holiday Visa cannot be granted in Australia. All Australian Working Holiday Visa applications must be made overseas.
Passport holders of 12 foreign countries (the United Kingdom, Canada, the Netherlands, the Republic of Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Italy, France, Belgium and Estonia) are able to apply for a Working Holiday Visa in any country (except Australia).
Holders of the following passports must lodge their application in their country of passport:
Japan;
Malta;
The Republic of Cyprus;
The Republic of Korea;
Hong Kong;
Taiwan; and
Germany.
Q: Do I need a medical examination for a Working Holiday Visa?
A: All applicants are required to meet health criteria. In certain circumstances, you will be required to undergo formal health examinations.
A chest x-ray will be required if you:
- Are a resident of a country considered to be of a very high health risk in terms of tuberculosis (the United Kingdom, Canada, the Netherlands, the Republic of Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Italy, France and Belgium are NOT considered high risk);
- Have spent more than 3 consecutive months in the last 5 years in a country or countries considered to be of a very high health risk in terms of tuberculosis;
- Are likely to enter an Australian hospital or health care area (including nursing homes); or Are likely to be engaged in an Australian child care centre (including preschools or creches) as either an employee or trainee.
A chest x-ray and a medical examination, including any specialist reports, will be required if:
- There is an indication you may not meet the health criteria; or
- You are likely to work or study in a classroom environment for more than 4 weeks and hold a passport from a country considered to be of a very high health risk in terms of tuberculosis.
Additionally, you will need to undergo HIV/Hepatitis B/Hepatitis C testing if you intend to work in the health care industry.
Q: How long can I stay in Australia on a Working Holiday Visa?
A: A Working Holiday Visa gives you 12 months to travel to Australia from the date the visa is granted, and allows you to stay in Australia for 12 months from the date you first enter Australia.
You can leave and re-enter Australia within the 12 months from the date of initial entry to Australia. However, if you depart Australia during your 12 month stay, you are not able to recover in any way the period of time spent outside Australia.
Prior to an announcement by the Australian Government in April of 2005, the Australia Working Holiday Visa was only available once in a lifetime.
Now the Government will allow Working Holiday Visa holders the opportunity to apply for a second Working Holiday Visa provided they worked as a seasonal worker in regional Australia for a minimum of 3 months.
Q: Do I need a stamp or label in my passport?
A: You will not normally need to have a visa label placed in your passport unless the Department of Immigration makes this a condition of your visa. This is because the visa is linked electronically to the passport details provided in your visa application.
However, any Working Holiday visa holder who chooses to, may have a visa label placed in their passport. This may be useful to show potential employers that you have the right to work in Australia. There are several options to obtain a visa label, these are:
- If you arrive at Sydney Airport, you can have your visa label printed before you leave the airport. When your passport is stamped on entry, ask for directions to the Visa Label desk.
- You can send your passport (with a stamped, self-addressed, registered envelope) by registered mail to: GPO Box 1496 Hobart, Tasmania, 7001 Australia
- Once you arrive in Australia, you can go to any departmental office to have your visa label printed
Q: What does 'seasonal worker in regional Australia' mean?
Seasonal Work: the definition of seasonal work has recently been extended. For a full list of occupations classified as 'seasonal work' for the purposes of an Australian Working Holiday visa, pleasesee below:
plant and animal cultivation
- cultivating or propagating plants, fungi or their products or parts
- general maintenance crop work
- harvesting and/or packing fruit and vegetable crops
- immediate processing of animal products including shearing, butchery in an abattoir, packing and tanning
- Note: Secondary processing of animal products, such as small goods processing and retail butchery is not eligible
- immediate processing of plant products
- maintaining animals for the purpose of selling them or their bodily produce, including natural increase
- manufacturing dairy produce from raw material
- pruning and trimming vines and trees.
fishing and pearling
- conducting operations relating directly to taking or catching fish and other aquatic species
- conducting operations relating directly to taking or culturing pearls or pearl shell.
tree farming and felling
- felling trees in a plantation or forest
- planting or tending trees in a plantation or forest that are intended to be felled
- transporting trees or parts of trees that were felled in a plantation or forest to the place where they are first to be milled or processed or from which they are to be transported to the place where they are to be milled or processed.
mining coal mining
- construction material engineering
- exploration
- metal ore mining
- mining support services
- oil and gas extraction
- other non-metallic mineral mining and quarrying.
construction
- building completion services
- building installation services
- building structure services
- heavy and civil engineering construction
- land development and site preparation services
- non-residential building construction
- residential building construction
- other construction services.
Q: Can I study in Australia on my Working Holiday Visa?
A: Working Holiday Visa holders are permitted to study or train for up to 4 months.
Q: Can I change to another visa?
A: You can apply to change your Working Holiday status while you are in Australia if you meet the requirements for another visa. Commonly, the choice for WHM visa holders is the SIR (Provisional) visa.
As of 1 November 2005, the regulations have been amended to provide that applicants for SIR (Provisional) visas who hold Working Holiday Maker visas do not need to satisfy the recent work experience requirements. They must, however, satisfy the age, English language, health and character requirements, and have complied with the conditions of their previously held visa.
Note: Working Holiday Visa holders are able to meet the criteria for grant of a Visitor Visa to enable a longer stay in Australia only if exceptional circumstances exist. Additionally, people with another type of visa cannot change to a Working Holiday Visa in Australia.
Q: What is superannuation?
A: If your monthly wage is more than $AUD450 as a Working Holiday Visa holder in Australia, your employer must contribute an amount equal to 9% of your wage into a superannuation account for you. Australians generally cannot access these contributions until they reach retirement age. However, as a Working Holiday Visa holder in Australia you can, in most cases, access your contributions earlier, although the money will be taxed.
Q: I already hold another visa on my passport for Australia, what will happen to it?
If you already have a visa attached to your passport, like an ETA or immigration visa, your Working Holiday Visa may cancel or cease your existing visa.
If you have another visa pending (for example a visa under the General Skilled Migration program) you should be careful not to apply for a Working Holiday Visa around the same time as your application is processed through the Australian Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs. Your application for temporary ETA could affect the status of your permanent visa.