Work And Holiday Visa Australia

Work and Holiday Visa Australia

Are you also dreaming about a work and holiday visa in Australia? Coming to Australia was a dream come true for both of us. We got the chance to do so, because of the Working Holiday visa. Hundreds of thousands of young people go to Australia every year to do their Working Holiday and no wonder; either you want to find the best parties, to surf the wildest waves, to explore the breathtaking wilderness or just have a chilled time, Australia is a massive country and got it all covered.

We have gotten quite a few different questions about the Working Holiday. Therefore, we thought that it´s time to gather all the information in one guide to help you plan your ultimate Australian adventure.

What is a Working Holiday visa?

So, what is all this fuzz about? Here is the deal: Australia grants young people around the world working holiday visas. That allows you to stay in the country for 12 months (this can be extended up to 36 months, we´ll let you know later how), work short-term and study up to 4 months. During this time, you are allowed to leave and enter the country as you like. Sounds pretty awesome, doesn´t it?

Who can apply for the visa?

Is this visa available for everyone? Unfortunately, not. Also, there are some requirements that you need to fill to get your visa to the land down under. And we have gathered them here:

If you are aged between 18 and 30 (18 and 35 for Canadians, French and Irish), you hold a valid passport from a country listed below and you have not been to Australia on a working holiday visa subclass 417 or 462 before, you can apply for the visa. You´re already 30? Don´t worry! As long as you apply and get your visa granted before you turn 31, you are good to go.

All the countries that can get the Working Holiday visa are listed below:

There are two types of Working Holiday visas, subclass 417 and 462. Which visa you apply depends on which country´s passport you have. There are some differences between these two visas, but we´ll get back to them later on in our text.

So, what´s next!?

Okay, so by this far you hopefully know that you’ll pass all these requirements mentioned above. Congratulations, you are now one step closer to your Australian adventure! Before you can start typing in your application for work and holiday visa in Australia, there are a few last requirements the Australian Government wants you to fulfill.

Both visas include certain health and character requirements you need to fill. In some cases, you may have to go through a medical examination or provide a criminal record, but more information about these you can find in HERE.

You should also have enough money to support yourself while you stay in Australia. A ticket out f the country or enough money to be able to leave the country when your visa expires (this is recommended to be 5000AUD). Neither of us had to prove that we had this amount of money on arrival, but we have heard from a few people that they had to provide a document proving that.
If you are applying for the 462 visa, you also have to meet Australians education requirements, have a certain level of English language and may have to provide a letter of support from your government (more info HERE).

When you have all the needed things sorted out, you can go and start typing in that application of yours! You can do this online and all this fun will cost you 450AUD. Note that you have to be outside Australia to be applied to lodge your application.

Woohoo, now you can just sit back and wait! If you´re lucky, you might get the answer back in a few seconds. Good luck!

Before coming to Australia

Here starts the exciting part, you can start planning your trip! There are heaps of good information about Australia available and good ways of finding tips and info are f.e. blogs (seems like you have already figured that out hehe), Facebook pages (almost every city has their own backpacker page), Instagram, books like Lonely Planet, you pick your favorites!

As we mentioned before, Australia is a massive country and it has something for everyone. You just have to figure out where to start your adventure.

Before jumping on to your flight to Oz, make sure you have ticked these things off your to-do list:

• Firstly and most importantly make sure you have travel insurance. This is a MUST. Even if you know you can apply for a Medicare card (we´ll explain what this is HERE), get yourself a proper travel insurance. This will be your safety net if something unexpected happens. It can be anything from someone stealing your phone to you having a car accident. Don´t think this is the part you´re going save money in because that would be stupid. STUPID.
• Secondly, check so that you have your vaccinations up to date. Australia is a low-risk country but still, make sure you have all the basics covered.
• After that, we recommend you to book a few nights in a hostel in advance. When you arrive after your long flight it´s just nice and easy go straight to a hostel where you can sleep (or party) your jetlag away.

Don´t worry but enjoy planning your travels

As there are thousands and thousands of backpackers coming to Australia every year, so you don´t have to worry about having to be here alone (unless you want to be, there is heaps of space if you prefer to hang around by yourself).

Paula came to Australia by herself and she was a bit nervous if she´d get to know people, but she met a nice group of people the first day she arrived. Elin had made contact with another girl already in Sweden and they arrived in Australia together.

Whether you are planning to come to Australia with or without someone, or if you´re planning to stay six months or two years, remember that this is your trip and your adventure. Most importantly, enjoy, have fun and make the most of it! Don´t be scared of coming here alone, because you will get to meet here the most incredible people.

Arriving in Australia

When you arrive in Australia, there are a few things you should take care of:

Sim card: This is easy. You can buy pre-paid sim cards from basically anywhere and recharge the amount that fits in your needs. We have found that Telstra has the best coverage throughout the country and the prices are good.

Bank account: If you intend to work here, you need to fix yourself a bank account. This is also done very quickly, as you can just walk into a bank and they´ll open a bank account to you straight away. After that, you’ve ordered your card it will take about a week for your card to arrive in your postbox.

It is also smart to open a superannuation account because this is where your super is paid to. This is kind of retirement money and you can get 35% of it back when you leave the country.

Both of us have been using the Commonwealth Bank, which has suited us perfectly fine.

Tax file number: Tax file number or TFN is a unique number that you need in tax and other government services. You can apply for it online. TNF is yours for life, so you only have to apply for it once. This is important to have when working in Australia because without this you have to pay higher taxes.

You will be paying tax 15% until you earn 37,000. At the end of the Australian income year (it ends 30th of June each year) you can get a tax return and you can lodge it online. It is really worth doing the tax return since you can get quite some money back if you’re lucky. Espescially if you’ve been working in the rural areas.

Medicare card: Residents of some countries can apply for Medicare card. This allows you to get some medical costs covered during your stay. You can get your Medicare card from the service center.

Work in Australia

Working holiday visa allows you to do casual work to fund your travels but basically, this means that you can work the whole time here if you want. What you can’t do on the other hand is to work longer than six months for one employer. One exception to this rule is farm work, as you can work up to 12 months for one employer.

It is fairly easy to find work in Australia, at least this is our experience of it. Backpackers can find work for example in hospitality, construction, and agriculture.

After finishing the farm days we both worked in hospitality, we ended up working in a small town called Kununurra in Western Australia. Living in the outback is a once in a lifetime experience and we had a good time. Also, the wages are way better in the rural areas, so if you are wanting to save some good money, the outback is the right place for that. You’ll also meet amazing people and see some crazy parties!

Second-year work and holiday visa in Australia

If you fall in love with Australia, don´t worry, you have the chance to stay here for a second year! Some working holidaymakers know already before coming here that they will want their second-year visa and some decide it while they stay here. Either way, to get your second-year visa, you will have to do 3 months or 88 days of specified work in regional areas during your first year here.

You can do your specified work in any of these industries:

We did our 3 months doing farm work, therefore we´ll stick to talking about that.

Likewise, many people say that doing farm work was the worst and the best time of their lives and we can agree with that. Farm work can be incredibly hard, both physically and mentally and many farmers treat backpackers like scum. No kidding.

BUT, as we said, farm work can also be the best time of your life. As everybody is in the same shit trying to scrape together their 88 days, you often create strong bonds with others, support one another and have loads of fun. And you usually also end up having kick-ass parties after work.

Staying on the farm or in a working hostel?

We did our days both living at the farm and in working hostels. Both of them have pros and cons.

Staying at farms is probably makes it a bit more secure that you get the work you were promised, but you might also end up living in the middle of nowhere. This isn´t necessarily a bad thing if there is a good group of people staying at the same time or you´re not a party person. Accommodation is often cheaper on farms and in some places you might be able to live in your car for almost free, but with that said, these farms might be a bit tricky to find. A good option is also to rent a flat or a room in a share house while working on the farm.

Working hostels, on the other hand, are the easy choice, as many of them will find the job for you. You often find good parties in hostels and meet more new people than living on the farm. The bad thing about working hostels is that they might lie about work. Because they get their money from people paying for the accommodation, they might promise you to work, but when you arrive there, you may end up waiting for a long time before the work starts.

If you intend to do your 88 days, or if there´s even a slight chance that you might be wanting to stay for a second year, start doing your specified work early enough. We have seen so many people leaving it until the end of their visa and the amount of stress that has caused them when they´re not sure if they have time to finish their days or not. Because farm work is seasonal and very weather dependant and you can never be sure 100% that you will get the work hours you were promised.

Stay for the third work and holiday visa (or even longer in Australia)!?

If Australia has stolen your heart and you don´t want to leave. If so, it is possible to get a third-year work and holiday visa in Australia. To get a third-year visa you will have to spend 6 months of your second year doing specified regional work. 6 months of more farm work was a no-no for us. However, others find this a good opportunity to stay a year longer here.

Some people are not ready to leave Australia after a few years, but lucky for them there are options to stay longer. Getting a student visa is one way to extend your stay (though studying in Australia is very expensive). You can also get sponsorship from some jobs. This meaning that you can stay for even 5 extra years, though you are bind to work in that exact job.