Australia Working Holiday Visa: here's a guide to stay in Australia for 3 years

CANBERRA - The Working Holiday Visa is in popular demand now a days because it lets those who have any skill to relocate to the country and enjoy vacations besides working to support themselves.

Australia also offers the same Working Holiday Visa and interestingly, you can stay up to 3 years in the country under this visa. Below are the complete details in this regard.

Eligibility

If you are thinking to apply for this visa, you must know that it is for people who are aged between 18 to 30 years old (or 35 years old for some countries). Moreover, not every citizen is eligible for the visa and so you must belong to the countries who are eligible for this visa type. Another key condition is that you must not be accompanied by dependent children.

As far as financial considerations are concerned, it must be kept in mind that you must have enough money to support yourself while you are in Australia as well as enough money to leave Australia at the end of your stay.

According to Immigration Department of Australia (Home Affairs) this is usually about AUD5,000 for your initial stay, plus the fare to where you are going after leaving Australia.

Types

There are three types of Working Holiday Visa elaborated below.

First Working Holiday visa

This visa allows people to have their first extended holiday in Australia and work here to help fund their trip. The basic eligibility criteria is the same as elaborated above.

You can stay for 12 months and this visa costs AUD510 but you can only study for 4 months maximum. And keep in mind that four months of study or training is 17 weeks and 3 days which includes weekends, public holidays and non-teaching periods before exams.

You can apply for a second Working Holiday visa if you meet certain eligibility criteria.

Second Working Holiday visa

This visa allows people who currently hold, or who have held, a Working Holiday visa, have a second working holiday in Australia. In order to be eligible for this visa, you must ​have completed 3 months of specified subclass 417 work.​​​

Moreover,  if you are in Australia, you must hold a substantive visa or your last substantive visa should have expired less than 28 days ago in order to be eligible. The duration of stay is again 12 months and this costs AUD510.

Third Working Holiday visa

This visa lets people who currently hold, or who have held, a second Working Holiday visa, have a third working holiday in Australia to stay in the country for another 12 months.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​In order to be eligible, you must have completed 6 months of specified subclass 417 work​ and if you are in Australia, you must hold a substantive visa or your last substantive visa should have expired less than 28 days ago​. You can also travel to and from Australia as many times as you desire.

Countries Eligible for Working Holiday Visa

Citizens of following countries are eligible for Australia's Working Holiday Visa:

Belgium

Canada

Republic of Cyprus

Denmark

Estonia

Finland

France

Germany

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (including British National Overseas passport holders)

Republic of Ireland

Italy

Japan

Republic of Korea

Malta

Netherlands

Norway

Sweden

Taiwan (other than an official or diplomatic passport)

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

If you are also trying to look for where to relocate for a Working Holiday Visa, Australia might serve your purpose due to extended duration of stay that it allows.