Updates on The Working Holiday Visas in Australia

Australia is a great place to work, volunteer, do an internship, or study. The best part is that Australia is one of the few places where young people can get a working holiday visa. You can book a flight to Australia to work and travel if you meet specific requirements. But, to help travellers, new rules were made public about who could get working holiday visas. Let's look at some, but first, let's take a look at the eligibility criteria for the new Working Holiday Visa.

What Can You Do With The New Visa?

• Work in Australia for a short period to help pay for your trip.

• Spend up to 4 months studying.

• You can go to and from Australia as often as you like.

• You can get a second Working Holiday visa if you do specified work for three months.

How long can you stay?
This visa is short-term. You have to go to Australia within a year of the day you get your visa. When you enter Australia, the visa is activated. You can stay in Australia for up to a year, leave, and come back as many times as you want during that year.

Getting this visa extended won't let you stay in Australia longer. Apply for another visa if you want to stay in Australia longer.

You could apply for a second Working Holiday visa if you are eligible.

Can You Take Your Family?
You cannot add family members to your application or bring children to Australia while on this visa.

Other Requirements

• You must have a passport from an eligible country

• You must be between 18 and 30. (or 35 years old for some countries)

• You must apply online from somewhere other than Australia.

• You can't have been to Australia before with a subclass 417 or 462 visa.

Changes Made on The Working Holiday Visa

No More Farm Work
People with a 417 visa (Working Holiday Visa) had to do three months of specific work in a rural area (often called farm work) before getting a second year on their visa. This changed recently. You can still get a visa extension if you do this work, but you can also do other job types.

Working Holiday Makers in the tourism and hospitality industries in any part of Australia no longer need permission to work for up to 12 months with the same employer or organization.

Working in the hospitality and tourism industries in northern, remote, or very remote parts of Australia can also be necessary for getting a second or third WHM visa.

So, if you are in Australia, you can switch from working on a farm to working in tourism or hospitality to get your third-year visa.

Covid Travelers Will Get Free Visas
Last year, the Australian government said that in the future, people who didn't use their visas or who had to fly back home due to COVID would be able to get a free visa. The plan for how to do that was confirmed and made public. You must meet the following requirements to be eligible for a COVID-19-impacted visa.

• You must have been granted a WHM (subclass 417 or 462) visa before 20 March 2020

• Your WHM visa ran out on or after 20 March 2020, while you were outside of Australia

• You either didn't use your WHM visa to go to Australia or left Australia before it ran out