Working Holiday Visa (Subclass 417)

Visa Eligibility

• 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/jurisdictions:
• You must be 18 to 30 years old (inclusive) – except for Canadian, French and Irish citizens, who can be 18 to 35 years old (inclusive). 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.
• If you are a citizen of Canada, France or Ireland and apply for the visa while you are 35, but turn 36 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 417) or Working Holiday visa (subclass 462)
• 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 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
• study for up to 4 months
• travel to and from Australia as many times as you want
• do 3 months of specified work to become eligible for a second Working Holiday visa

General Notes

• Usually, you can only work for the same employer for 6 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. You can’t be accompanied by dependent children 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.

Eligible Countries

• Belgium
• Canada
• Republic of Cyprus
• Denmark
• Estonia
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Republic of Ireland
• Italy
• Japan
• Republic of Korea
• Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China (including British National Overseas passport holders)
• Malta
• Netherlands
• Norway
• Sweden
• Taiwan (other than an official or diplomatic passport)
• The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland