GET YOUR AUSTRALIAN WORKING HOLIDAY / TOURIST VISA
Before you start booking your flights and hop on a plane here, be sure to get the Visa that’s right for you. If you’re planning a working holiday in Australia, there are two types of visa available – subclass 417 & 462. If you’re heading to Australia for fun, for a shorter period of time and don’t wish to work you can get a Tourist Visa – subclass 976 or 676.
Working Holiday Visa (subclass 417)
The Working Holiday Visa (subclass 417) is only available to people who hold valid passports from the following countries:
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*Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China (includes British National Overseas passport holders).
To be eligible for the Working Holiday Visa, you must also:
- be outside Australia when you apply and, when your visa is granted
- not have entered Australia on a Working Holiday visa before
- be aged between 18 and 30 years (inclusive) at the time of applying
- be applying no more than 12 months before you intend to travel to Australia
- not have accompanying dependent children. If you have dependent children you will need to apply using the paper application.
What Does The Working Holiday Visa Allow You To Do?
- enter Australia within 12 months of grant
- stay for up to 12 months
- leave and re-enter Australia any number of times while the visa is valid
- work in Australia for up to 6 months with each employer
- study for up to 4 months.
- extend your stay by another 12-months by working 3 months (88 days) in a Specified Role, eg farming in a regional area.
If you gain a 12-month Visa extension, you may return to work for a further 6 months for an employer with whom you worked on your first Working Holiday visa.
Work and Holiday Visa (subclass 462)
The Work and Holiday Visa (subclass 462) is available only to tertiary educated people aged 18 to 30 who hold valid passports from:
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Valid up to 12 months, the visa enables you to supplement the cost of your travels in Australia through periods of temporary or casual employment.
What Does The Work and Holiday Visa Allow You To Do?
- enter Australia at any time within 3 months of the visa grant date
- stay for up to 12 months in Australia
- leave and re–enter Australia any number of times in the 12 months from the date of first entry
- undertake temporary employment in Australia
- study for up to 4 months
Unfortunately, it is not possible to qualify for a visa extension by working in regional Australia. This option is only available under the Working Holiday visa (Subclass 417).
Tertiary Education Requirements:
- Chile: You must hold tertiary qualifications or have completed/been approved to undertake a third year of undergraduate university study.
- Malaysia: You must hold tertiary qualifications, or have successfully completed at least two (2) years of undergraduate university study.
- Thailand: You must hold a degree or post high school diploma from an accredited institution.
- Turkey: You must hold tertiary qualifications, or have successfully completed at least two (2) years of undergraduate university study.
- USA: You must have graduated from High School.
Visitor Visa (subclass 976)
An ETA (Visitor) (subclass 976) visa is designed for people who are outside Australia and want to visit Australia for holidays, tourism, recreation or for informal study.
A service charge of $20 applies. You can stay for up to three months on each visit within the validity of the visa. ETAs are valid for 12 months from the date of grant, or for the life of the passport if the passport expires less than 12 months from the date the ETA was granted. An ETA is not designed to allow repeated extended stays in Australia. If you want to spend long periods in Australia for tourism purposes, you may want to consider applying for Tourist visa (subclass 676) or an alternate visa that suits your purposes.
Tourist Visa (subclass 676)
This visa allows people to visit Australia for a holiday or recreation, or to visit family and friends. This visa may also be used for other short-term non-work purposes including study for less than three months. This visa is available to all passport holders who are:
- outside Australia and want to apply for a visa to visit Australia
- in Australia and want to extend your stay as a visitor.
This visa is designed only to allow temporary travel to Australia for tourism purposes or to visit family and friends. It cannot be used for long-term stays or residence. To be eligible for a further Tourist visa in the future, you must maintain extended periods of time outside of Australia. To apply, you may be required to pay a visa application charge. This charge is usually not refunded if your application is unsuccessful.
If granted, this visa will allow you either a single or multiple entry to Australia for a stay period of up to three, six or 12 months. The period of stay and number of entries granted will depend on the purpose of the visit and your personal circumstances.
APPLYING FOR YOUR VISA
You can apply online for any of the visas mentioned above. Simply visit the Australian Immigration website and choose the visa that is right for you. It might take some time to actually lodge an application, but once that is done and all requirements are met your visa can then be granted.