Working Holiday Visa

The Working Holiday Visa (known as WHV) is the most popular and suitable visa for a work study period in Australia. It is the best way to explore Australia, improve your own level of English and live an overseas work experience to put on your resume.

Working Holiday Visa: What is it?

The visa lasts 12 months, can be requested online and is for those who have not yet turned 31. It is usually granted after a few hours and from the moment the email has been received with the visa number (IMMI Grant Notification), there you have one year to enter in Australia. A Working Holiday Visa can be renewed for another year, but on the condition that you work in a rural area (farm job) for 88 days during the first year of the visa. In 2013, 250 thousand Working Holiday Visas were granted by the Government, and the number is still increasing. English people are at the head of Working Holiday Visa requests (46,000), followed by Taiwanese (22,000), Germans (27,000), French (25,000) and Irish (19,000). Italians are in seventh place with 16,000 requests per year. Most travellers try to enjoy as many places as possible, but the most popular destinations are still Sydney and Melbourne, where the quality of life is high, as is the salary, where there are the best English schools and many job opportunities.

Working Holiday visas: age

This Visa can be requested by those who have turned 18 but have not yet turned 31. This rule applies to both the first and second year of the visa. Both visas must be requested under 31 years of age.

Working holiday visa: flight ticket

You often hear that it is necessary to have already booked the flight back when you come to Australia. Actually, it is important to have the money to buy it. On the Department site, in fact, it states that one of the requirements is to have $5,000 available, as an amount to use for initial purchases and for a return flight in case you decide to leave Australia so that you are not financially dependent on the Government.

Working Holiday Visas: how it works

• Work permission: full time
• Study permission: up to 17 weeks
• Employment contract: maximum 6 months for the one company
• Duration: 12 months + 12 months
• How to renew it: 88 days work on a farm during the first year
• Price: $440
• Release time: first WHV till 6 days, 2 WHV till 21 days
• Where: on the Department of Immigration website
• When: by age of 31
• Why: travel, study and work
• From where: outside Australia
• Children and partner: not included, visa is individual

Work Study Visas are not all the same. There is the classical WHV (subclass 417), which is the most popular amongst Italians, lasts one year with the chance to obtain an extra year, and then there is the Work and Holiday Visa (subclass 462), concerned with other nationalities outside of (for example the United States) that lasts just 12 months and can’t be renewed. Let’s see them in order.

Working Holiday Visa Australia (Subclass 417)

The Working Holiday Visa for Italians is the 417, it is effective for only some countries and gives the possibility to stay one year in Australia with the chance to renew it for another 12 months, providing you work 88 days on a farm in a rural area. WHV 417 can be requested from these countries: Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, , Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malta, Holland, Norway, Sweden, Taiwan and the United Kingdom.

Working and Holiday Visa Australia (Subclass 462)

There are countries that can use the Working Holiday Visa but they cannot renew it for another year. Citizens of these countries can apply for the Work and Holiday Visa that lasts just 12 months, without renewal. Here are the countries that can acquire the 462 visa: Bangladesh, Chile, China, Indonesia, Israel, Malaysia, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, the United States and Uruguay.
WORKING HOLIDAY VISA AUSTRALIA ONLINE
The Working Holiday Visa Australia is easy to request and can be done directly online, as with the other visas. From the 1st of July 2016, in fact, it is compulsory to request the visa online for every category.

Working Holiday Visa Australia: document checklist

Here the documents required before applying for the visa:

• Passport
• Personal details
• Residency address
• Email
• Phone number
• Credit Card

Hot to apply for the Working Holiday Visa Australia

The Working Holiday Visa Australia has to be requested directly online on the Department of Immigration website. Remember that the first WHV can only be asked for outside Australia while the second one can be requested in Australia. The application process is also pretty simple for those who don’t speak English:

• Create an ImmiAccount
• New Application
• Choose Working Holiday Visa
• Fill out the details and save them
• Pay for the visa by credit card

How the get the Working Holiday Visa Australia

At this stage, you might have received an email for creating an ImmiAccount, one that explains that the visa request has been successful, and after a couple of hours or maybe days, an email with the proper visa called an IMMI Grant Notification. Alternatively, an email might arrive called the IMMI Request for More Information, when the Department needs more information about you before releasing the visa, such as a certified copy of your passport, a blood test and X-ray , or a police check.

It’s not usually necessary to give more information unless you declare that you have a criminal history or have had some health problems. Once you get the visa, you have one year to enter Australia and the visa will last for 12 months after your first enter Down Under.

Price of the Working Holiday Visa Australia

The Visa costs exactly $440 plus $4 fees for credit card payment, a total of $444. The visa can be paid for by credit card or prepaid card.

Working Holiday Visa Australia: extension

A second Working Holiday Visa can be requested online, both from within and outside of the country. Be careful, if the request is made from within Australia, the visa deadline will be exactly two years after the date on which your first entered Australia.

Working Holiday Visa: Health Insurance

For the first 6 months of the WHV you have the right to Medicare, the Australian public health insurance, if your country has an agreement with the Australian government. After six months, it is necessary to get private health insurance. Just Australia has many agreements with various Australian health insurance companies and can offer very convenient prices depending on budget, duration and visa type.

Working Holiday Visa Australia: advice

There is just one piece of advice that we want to give you about the Working Holiday Visa: if you are under 31 years old, APPLY FOR IT! It is a wonderful experience Down Under, one that allows you to experience beautiful places, culture and traditions completely different from those in , to learn or improve your English skills and live in a multiethnic and modern country, with a strong economy and with one of the best lifestyles in the world.