New Regulation for Work and Holiday Visa (subclass 462)
To all the millennials out there, do you want to work while having an extended holiday in Australia? Then the Working Holiday Maker programme is the answer for you. It has two types of visas: Working Holiday visa (Subclass 417) and Work and Holiday visa (Subclass 462) depending on your country of residence. In this page we will discuss further about Work and Holiday Visa subclass 462.
This subclass is only accessible for Argentina, Austria, Chile, People’s Republic of China, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Israel, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Peru, Poland, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, Uruguay, USA, & Vietnam.
What is the latest news on this visa?
From 1st July 2019, all applicants (except ones holding a passport from the People’s Republic of China) can lodge an online application, paper applications are no longer accepted.
Besides that, the Australian Government also add another year for this visa so it now has 3-year program overall, this means that you can extend your work and holiday plan to one more year ahead from the total of two years before.
However, the requirement for the third extension is somewhat different.
What are the basic requirements to apply this visa?
Let’s start with the First Year Work and Holiday visa (Subclass 462) requirements:
- Must be 18 to 30 years old (inclusive)
- Have a passport from an eligible country
- Have enough money to support yourself while you are in Australia and leave Australia at the end of your stay. This is usually about $5,000 for your initial stay, plus the fare to where you are going after leaving Australia.
- Meet the health and character requirement
- Meet education requirement relevant to the countries
- Meet English requirement (unless exempted)
- Have a letter of support (depending on country of passport)
Besides the points mentioned above, you will also need Health Insurance to cover you from unwanted medical condition and to help your finance.
For the second year, the requirements is lessen to:
- Have previously entered Australia on a subclass 462 visa;
- Have complied with all the conditions on your previous Work and Holiday (subclass 462) visas;
- Have a passport from an eligible country;
- Be 18 to 30 years old (inclusive);
- Have completed 3 months of specified subclass 462 work on your first Work and Holiday visa on or after 18 November 2016;
- 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 the health and character requirement.
Then from 1 July 2019, if you carry out 6 months of specified work in regional areas while holding your second Work and Holiday (subclass 462) visa may be eligible to apply for a third year.
The requirements for Third Year Work and Holiday Visa (subclass 462) visa is now:
- Have previously held 2 subclass 462 visas in Australia;
- Have complied with all the conditions on your previous Work and Holiday (subclass 462) visas;
- Have a passport from an eligible country;
- Be 18 to 30 years old (inclusive);
- Have undertaken, staring from 1 July 2019, 6 months of specified subclass 462 work while on your second subclass 462 visa, or a bridging visa in certain circumstances;
- Have enough money to support yourself while you are in Australia and leave Australia at the end of your stay. This is usually about AUD 5,000 for your initial stay, plus the fare to where you are going after leaving Australia;
- Meet the health and character requirement.
What advantages you will get through this visa?
You can do any kind of works in Australia, however if you plan to continue to the second and third work and holiday visa, you must work from specified jobs under subclass 462.
You can usually work for a maximum of six months with the same employer.
This visa absolutely allows you to have a holiday in Australia; you can travel to and from Australia as many times as you want while it is valid.
What is the specified subclass 462 work for the second and third work and holiday visa?
The applicant must have completed 3 and 6 months of specified subclass 462 work while on the first and second Work and Holiday visa (subclass 462) to be able to meet the requirements for the subsequent year of WHV.
For the second year WHV, you must have undertaken on or after 18 November 2016 whilst for third year WHV specifically, you must have undertaken the work on or after 1 July 2019.
The specified work subclass 462 is the same for both visa program:
Specified work is work that is undertaken in a specified industry in a designated area, northern or regional Australia, or both.
For the employment to be eligible, you must have been paid in accordance with the relevant industry awards and not underpaid.
The relevant industries and regions for specified work subclass 462 are:
- Plant and animal cultivation in northern Australia and regional Australia;
- Fishing and pearling in northern Australia only;
- Tree farming and felling in northern Australia only;
- Tourism and hospitality in northern Australia only.
The regions are defined as northern Australia includes: Northern Territory (Entire Territory), Queensland (all areas north of the Tropic of Capricorn), and Western Australia (all areas north of the Tropic of Capricorn).
Regional Australia for the specified subclass 462 work are: all of Norfolk Island, South Australia, Tasmania and eligible post postcodes in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, and Western Australia.
Not only the industries and regions are defined, the primary role, function or activity performed during the employment has also been determined.
We understand that there are many more requirements needed for applying this visa, even though it can now be lodged online, but it may not be as easy as you imagine.
The second and third work and holiday visa may seem straight forward, however this is one of the strictest visa you can apply for.
If you are considering to apply for this visa to Australia, do not risk yourself for a refusal by handling it yourself.
We highly recommend using a professional and trusted migration agent to avoid rejection of the visa.
ONE derland Consulting has quite a lot and varied experience when dealing with cases of visa violations.
Indah Melindasari as our principal migration agent is very experienced in dealing with similar cases.
Indah is also registered with the Australian Migration Agents Registration Authority (MARA) with registration number 0961448.
We are regulated in our professional practice and are bound by the profession’s Code of Conduct issued by the Migration Agents Registration Authority.
We understand that applying for a visa to Australia could get very complex. Indah Melindasari and the team at ONE derland Consulting will help you to understand what you have to do and also provide the best options for applying for your visa.
ONE derland consulting will take the time and compile all documents needed and guarantee that your application is 100% ready before submitting, ensuring a positive outcome for your visa application.
Get in touch through email to [email protected] or via phone to 08 9477 5831 (Perth), 02 9188 2065 (Sydney) & 03 9088 4114 (Melbourne). Talk to our experience team member on any queries you may have.