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Working Holiday in Australia: Frequently Asked Questions
Below are some FAQ containing essential information you need to know before applying for an Australia Working Holiday Visa:
- Do I need a visa to visit Australia?
- Where do I apply?
- Do I need a medical examination for a Working Holiday Visa?
- How long can I stay in Australia on a Working Holiday Visa?
- Do I need a stamp or label in my passport?
- What does 'seasonal worker in regional Australia' mean?
- Can I study in Australia on my Working Holiday Visa?
- Do I need travel or health insurance?
- Can I change to another visa?
- What is superannuation?
Q: Do I need a visa to visit Australia?
A: Yes, Australian Immigration requires all visitors to have a visa before entering the country. If you are going to Australia on holiday, please visit the Australian Travel Visa section of the Australian Visa Bureau website.
To be eligible for a Working Holiday Visa for Australia, you must:
- Be aged between 18 and 30 without dependent children;
- Be an eligible passport holder and have at least 1 year until renewal on your passport;
- 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.
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Q: Where do I apply?
A: A Working Holiday Visa cannot be granted in Australia. All Australia 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; and
- Germany.
Holders of passports issued by the authorities of Taiwan or the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) of the People's Republic of China must apply for their visas in Hong Kong and Taiwan respectively.
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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.
Apply now for your Working Holiday Maker Visa
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.
Working Holiday Visa Application
Q: What does 'seasonal worker in regional Australia' mean?
Seasonal Work: the definition of seasonal work has recently been extended to include tasks in more primary industries such as:
plant and animal cultivation- the harvesting and/or packing of fruit and vegetable crops
- pruning and trimming vines and trees
- general maintenance crop work
- cultivating or propogating plants, fungi or their products or parts
- immediate processing of plant products
- maintaining animals for the purpose of selling them or their bodily produce, including natural increase
- immediate processing of animal products including shearing, butchery, packing and tanning
- manufacturing dairy produce from raw material
- 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
- planting or tending trees in a plantation or forest that are intended to be felled
- felling trees in a plantation or forest, or
- 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.
Regional Australia: anywhere in Australia except Sydney, Newcastle, Wollongong, the NSW Central Coast, Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Perth, Melbourne or the ACT. Any area identified on the Australian JobSearch website as requiring harvest workers will come within the definition of 'regional Australia'.
The postal areas that make up the definition of 'Regional Australia' are detailed in the table below.
Regional Australia |
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The following postcodes are in Regional Australia: |
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New South Wales 2311 to 2312 |
Northern Territory Entire State |
Queensland 4124 to 4125 |
South Australia Entire State |
Tasmania Entire State |
Victoria 3211 to 3334 |
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Australian Working Holiday Application
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.
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Q: Do I need travel or health insurance?
A: Medical treatment in Australia can be very expensive and it is advisable to have both travel and health insurance. Visa Bureau recommend our selected partner, Walkabout Insurance, who offer comprehensive cover at a competitive price.
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. More information on the SIR (Provisional) can be found in the Skilled Migration Australia section of this website.
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.
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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.
Australia Working Holiday Visa Assessment
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