Australian Visa Bureau   »   Visas and Immigration   »   Australia Working Holiday Visa   »  FAQ

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?
• What are the financial requirements of the 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?
• Are there any other ways to demonstrate my visa's validity to employers?
• What does 'specified worker in regional Australia' mean?
• Can I study in Australia on my Working Holiday Visa?
• Can I apply for a Working Holiday Visa if I have previously been granted a Subclass 462 (Work and Holiday) visa?
• Do I need travel or health insurance?
• 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.

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 18 foreign countries (the United Kingdom, Canada, the Netherlands, the Republic of Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Italy, France, Japan, Malta, The Republic of Korea, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (the HKSAR), Taiwan, Germany, Belgium and Estonia) are able to apply for a Working Holiday Visa in any country (except Australia).

Holders of passports from The Republic of Cyprus are not eligible to apply for an electronic working holiday visa, and must lodge their application with their resident Australian Government office.

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.

Depending on the circumstances, the Australian Government retains the right to add further health requirements at the discretion of the visa processing officer. Further information can be found on DIAC's website here

Q: What are the financial requirements of the Working Holiday Visa?

A: You need to have access to sufficient funds to support yourself for the initial stage of your holiday in Australia at least, and you may be asked to show evidence of this on arrival to satisfy immigration officials.

The Department of Immigration and Citizenship regard a sufficient amount as being a minimum of AUD$5,000, although the amount may vary depending on your length of stay and how much travelling you intend to do. You should also have a return or onward ticket or at least the funds for a fare to depart Australia if travelling on a one way ticket.

Evidence may include a certified copy of a bank statement and an air ticket out of Australia.

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.

Working holiday makers who have been employed in specified work in regional Australia for a minimum of three months will be eligible to apply for a second working holiday visa, allowing them to stay in Australia for a further 12 months, provided they continue to meet the working holiday eligibility requirements.

Specified work includes plant / animal cultivation, fishing, tree farming, mining and construction work.  A full list is available further down on this page.

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 and Citizenship 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 a number of ways to obtain a visa label or otherwise provide substantiated proof of your visa:

• 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.
  
• Once you arrive in Australia, you can go to any departmental office to have your visa label printed.

Q: Are there any other ways to demonstrate my visa's validity to employers?

You should be aware of the Entitlement Verification Online (EVO) service, which allows certain third parties (i.e. employers) to check your visa information provided they obtain your consent, which you can do by providing the third party with your name, date of birth, passport number and passport country of issue.

Q: What does 'specified worker in regional Australia' mean?

Specified Work: the definition of specified work includes tasks in more primary industries such as:

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.

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.

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 apply for a Working Holiday Visa if I have previously been granted a Subclass 462 (Work and Holiday) visa?

A: No. Previously, a person with dual citizenship and a passport from both one of the Subclass 417 (Working Holiday) visa eligible countries as well as a passport from one of the Subclass 462 (Work and Holiday) visa eligible countries (i.e. Chile, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Turkey or the USA) could potentially apply for both visa subclasses.

However, legislation has now been introduced to prevent a person who has previously been in Australia as the holder of a Subclass 462 (Work and Holiday) visa from applying for a Subclass 417 (Working Holiday) visa (and vice versa).

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, Columbus Direct, who offer comprehensive cover at a competitive price, with a 10% discount available exclusively to Visa Bureau clients.

Q: What is superannuation?

A: If your monthly wage is more than $AU450 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.