Working Holiday Visa , Australia Immigration

Working Holiday Maker (WHM) Visas are for young people to travel around Australia, see the sights and take an extended holiday for 12 months. If you fulfill the requirements, you can stay for a second 12 months on an extended visa without leaving Australia, and there are opportunities for other visas if you apply before your WHM expires.

The Working Holiday Program provides a "once in a lifetime" opportunity for people between 18 and 30 from certain countries to holiday in Australia and to supplement their travel funds through incidental employment.

To help with costs, short-term paid work is allowed during your holiday.

In order to qualify for a Working Holiday Visa, applicants must hold a passport from a country which has a reciprocal arrangement with Australia. At present, these countries are:
the United Kingdom, Canada, the Netherlands, Japan, the Republic of Ireland, the Republic of Korea, Malta, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, Finland, the Republic of Cyprus, Italy, France and Estonia.

Holiday maker visas for young people allow international travel among participating countries for cultural exchange. Young Australians are able to easily gain a working holiday visa to countries these countries, called 'Arranged Countries'.

The Working Holiday Visa allows a stay of up to 12 months from the date of first entry to Australia, regardless of whether or not you spend the whole time in Australia.

In the period July 2003 to July 2004, there were 93,760 WHM Visas granted. 35,061 came from the UK, 12,260 came from Ireland, 9943 from Japan, 9700 from Germany, 6517 from Canada, 3036 from the Netherlands. The other countries had fewer WHM visa grants.

Processing Time for WHM Visa

Currently, the processing time for Working Holiday Visa applications lodged online are normally finalised within two (2) working days. In some instances, applications may need to be referred to an Australian Immigration Office in Australia for further processing. Referred applications may take up to four (4) weeks to finalise. Similarly, applications lodged by mail can take up to four (4) weeks to be finalised.