15 July 2009

Last chances to grab £10 flight to Australia with your working holiday visa

Young people wanting to get a £10 flight to Australia are fast running out of time to apply for their Australian Working Holiday Visa.

In exactly three weeks time STA Travel will release a select amount of £10 flights to Australia, but in order to be eligible young people need to already have their Working Holiday Visa.

The good news is an Australian Working Holiday Visa is on average granted within 48 hours.

However, criminal offences and medical requirements can slow some applications.

For example, those with a minor criminal offence like a driving, or a drunk and disorderly conviction can have their Australian Visa withing five days to a couple of weeks from when they supply their full application information. For more serious criminal offences applications will take longer.

Those who have visited for long periods countries that are at high-risk  of Tuberculosis, like Thailand, must have a chest X-ray performed by a government-approved doctor. Applications needing medicals will take also longer, around four weeks.  

These time frames are approximate and do not take into account each individual's unique circumstances, and as such young people are strongly encoraged to apply for their Australian visa as soon as possible.

Working Holiday Visas can now be applied for online.  To confirm your eligibility, complete an online assessment.

The Australian Working Holiday Visa allows you to live and work in Australia for a period of 12 months. The intention of the visa is for travellers to experience Australia and top up their funds by working along the way. There are no restrictions to the type of work you can do, although you can only work for one employer for a maximum of six months.

The basic requirements to apply for an Australian Working Holiday Visa are:

• You must be between 18 and 30 years old.
• You must have a valid passport with at least 1 year until renewal.
• You must have sufficient funds to support yourself when you arrive in Australia.

Click here to apply for your Working Holiday Visa.

On August 5, STA Travel will release 150 £10 one-way flights to Australia through eight special STA Travel branches.

The eight special STA Travel branches are: Belfast (92/94 Botanic Avenue), Birmingham High St  (222-224 Corporation Street), Bristol (43 Queens Road), Glasgow (122 George Street), Leeds (88 Vicar Lane), London Victoria (52 Grosvenor Gardens), Manchester (Albert Square 86 Cross Street) and Southampton (6-8 Civic Centre Road).

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The Australian Visa Bureau is an independent consulting company specialising in helping people with Australian visas and immigration.