Work and Holiday Visa (Subclass 462)

462 Visa Conditions

As a visa applicant, you must

• have a passport from an eligible country. See the eligibility section for details.
• be 18 to 30 years old (inclusive)
• apply from outside Australia
• not be accompanied by dependent children
• not have previously entered Australia on a subclass 462 or 417 visa. If you previously entered Australia on a subclass 462 visa, see the second Work and Holiday visa.

Visa Eligibility Criteria

• You must be outside Australia when you apply for this visa and when DoHA decides your application.
• You must be a citizen of and hold a valid passport from eligible countries.
• You must be aged 18 to 30 years old (inclusive) when you apply. If you apply for the visa while you are 30, but turn 31 before DOHA has made a decision, DoHA may still grant you the visa.
• You must not have previously entered Australia on a: Work and Holiday visa (subclass 462) or Working Holiday visa (subclass 417)
• You must meet the education requirement. Please consult with our expert registered migration agents to see if your education level qualifies you for this visa.
• You must have at least functional English. Please consult with our expert registered migration agents to see if your education level qualifies you for this visa.
• You must give us a letter of support from your government (or alternative, as stated below) if you are from Czech Republic (letter of introduction from your tertiary institution), Ecuador, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Luxembourg, Malaysia (Good Conduct Certificate), Peru, Poland, San Marino, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Thailand, Turkey, Uruguay, Vietnam.
• You must have enough money to support yourself while you are in Australia and leave Australia at the end of your stay. This is usually about AUD5,000 for your initial stay, plus the fare to where you are going after leaving Australia.
• Meet all the health and character requirements
• Must not have any debt to pay to the Australian government. If you or any family members (including those who don’t apply for the visa with you) owe the Australian Government money, you or they must have paid it back or arranged to pay it back.
• If you are 18 years of age or older, you must confirm that you will respect the Australian way of life and obey all Australian laws when you sign the Australian Values Statement.

Note: If you apply within Australia and you have had a visa cancelled or refused, you may not be granted this visa.

Visa Benefits

• do short-term work in Australia to help pay for your holiday. You can do any kind of work on this visa.
• study for up to 4 months
• travel to and from Australia as many times as you want
• do three months of specified subclass 462 work to become eligible for a second Work and Holiday visa

General Notes

• Usually, you can only work for the same employer for six months.
• You must pay taxes when you work in Australia on this visa.
• Australia has compulsory superannuation – a retirement savings scheme. Your employer must pay superannuation into your superannuation fund if you earn more than a certain amount. You can access your superannuation when you leave Australia.
• Every program year, DoHA grants a limited number of first Work and Holiday visas to applicants from each eligible country except the United States of America. The program year begins on 1 July and ends on 30 June. Once this annual limit or ‘cap’ is reached, DoHA will not grant any more visas. You should wait until the new program year commences on the following 1 July to submit an application. You can check the status of country caps here.
• You can’t include family members in your application. Dependent children can’t accompany you while you are in Australia on this visa.
• You can’t stay in Australia longer by extending this visa. You could apply for a second Work and Holiday visa if you are eligible.

Visa Processing Time

The standard processing time for the 462 visa is between 14 – 70 days, with 50% of applicants getting processed within 27 days. The 462 visa processing time depends on a lot of factors like whether or not this is the first, second or third 462 visa your applying for.