1) Are you interested in a short working holiday in Australia?

2) Do you have a passport from one of the following countries: Belgium, Canada, Republic of Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Republic of Ireland, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Taiwan or the United Kingdom?

If you answered yes to both questions, you should read on, as this is the working holiday visa for you! (If you have a passport from the United States of America, Chile, Thailand or Turkey, you should look into this visa instead).

Photo: GaryT70

The official name of this visa is the “Australian Working Holiday Visa (Subclass 417)”.

It allows you to work in Australia for 12 months, but not for more than 6 months at the same employer. (Two lots of 6 months at two different employers is perfectly fine).

The visa can be extended to 24 months if you do at least 3 months of seasonal work in your first 12 months.

Seasonal work includes picking fruit, tree planting, working on a farm or in a fishery or a dairy.

Note that you must be between 18 and 30 years of age inclusive. (30 is ok, 31 is not). You must also be in this age range to renew this Australian working holiday visa.

You will need to apply and be accepted by an Australian university before you can apply for your student visa.

Once you have your acceptance letter, here’s what you will need:

The Sydney Harbour Bridge at night. Photo: Anthony Kelly.

• The code from your Confirmation of Enrolment (COE). You will receive this via email and/or in the mail from the Australian university once you have enrolled.
• A certified copy of your Letter of Acceptance from the Australian university. The letter should detail your plan of study (ie courses, credit points, names of subjects, hours per week). Again, you will receive this via email and/or in the mail from the Australian university. If you don’t have this you can also provide a certified copy of your COE.
• A certified copy of your Letter of Acceptance into the Study Abroad Program. You will receive this from your home institution (eg UCLA, UBC, Cambridge etc).
• A certified copy of your Receipt for Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC). You will receive this when you organise your health insurance for Australia. However, students from Norway do not need OSHC, nor do students from Sweden on the CSN scheme.
• Your passport. This should have at least six months validity left on it.
• Two passport photos. Officials love passport photos! Don’t let our Aussie officials down!
• The college student visa fee. This is $430 AUD. If you want to work while you study in Australia, you’ll need to add an extra $60 AUD, making it $490 AUD in total. You will be able to work legally in Australia for up to 20 hours per week during semesters and exam periods, and full time on semester breaks.

Financial Entry Requirements

You will also need to demonstrate that you have a certain amount of financial independence. The financial requirements of a study abroad visa for Australia are:

• A return air ticket to Australia. You cannot buy a one-way ticket and say you will buy the outbound ticket later.
• You need to show that you have either paid your university tuition fees or that you have the money to do so.
• On top of the money for the university tuition, you need to be able to show Customs officials that you have $1,000 AUD for each month that you will be in Australia. For example, if you are coming to Australia for six months, you will need to show that you have $6,000 AUD in your bank account.

How To Apply For A Student Visa For Australia

You can apply online at the website of the Immigration Department. You will need to already be enrolled in a university in Australia before you begin. Keep in mind that you need to be a full-time student (not part-time) in order to receive your study abroad student visa for Australia.

The duration depends upon the needs of your employer in Australia.

The official name of this visa is the Temporary Business (Long Stay) – Standard Business Sponsorship (Subclass 457).

One of the great advantages of this visa is that you can bring “secondary applicants” with you.

This means is that your husband or your wife (or your same-sex partner) can work or study in Australia too.

The Sydney Opera House at night. Photo: Corey Leopold.

Your children can also go to primary (elementary) or high school in Australia.

Another of the advantages of this visa is that it is a multiple entry visa.

This means you can come into and out of Australia as you please (for the duration of the visa).

Entry Requirements

The first requirement is that an Australian company must sponsor you before you apply.

The second requirement is that you must demonstrate that you have the appropriate employment background, qualification and skills for the job.

You must also prove that you are eligible for any Australian licences or registration required for the job.

The third requirement is a high level of English-language proficiency. If English is not your native language, you’ll need an average band score of 4.5 in the IELTS test. Note that you may need a score in excess of 4.5 if this is required by the registration standards for your professional.

The fourth requirement is that you prove that your Australian employer will pay you at least the minimum salary for your industry.

How To Apply

The first step is that your proposed Australian employer applies to become your sponsor.

Next, your sponsor will need to nominate a position that cannot be filled by Australian workers.

Finally, you can then apply for the 457 working visa for Australia.

Update: All European passport holders should read about the new eVisitor visa. Everyone else, you have two choices here. You can either get an Electronic Tourist Authority (ETA subclass 976) which is like an electronic visa, or you can get a regular tourist visa (subclass 676). The advantages and disadvantages of each are below.

ETA (Visitor) (Subclass 976)

You won’t receive a sticker in your passport – instead, your passport number will be registered with the Australian customs officials. It’s sort of like getting your name on the door at a private party.

Photo: Blue Riot River

Advantages

The first advantage is that you get instant notification telling you whether or not your visa was approved. The other advantage is that the electronic visa costs only $20 AUD instead of $70 AUD for the paper visa.

Disadvantages

The disadvantage of the electronic visa, and this is a big disadvantage, is that you can only stay in Australia for 3 months at a time (although you can come and go multiple times over a 12 month period).

The second disadvantage won’t apply to most: no formal studying of any kind is allowed.

Regular Tourist Visa (Subclass 676)

Advantages

The biggest advantage of this traditional “sticker in your passport” visa is that you can stay in Australia for 12 continuous months.

The second advantage is that you can study formally for up to 3 months.

Disadvantages

The disadvantages of this traditional visa are minor: you need to wait for up to 10 days to see if you are approved. The second disadvantage is that the visa costs $70 AUD, as opposed to $20 AUD for the electronic visa.

Financial Entry Requirements

Whichever visa you choose – the ETA or the traditional tourist visa – you’ll need to show you have enough money in your bank account to support yourself. Immigration officials will expect you have about $1000 AUD for each month you plan to be in the country.

If you answered ‘yes’ to both questions, then this visa (the “Work and Holiday Visa for Australia (Subclass 462)”) is the visa for you.

Sydney's Central Bus & Train Station at Sunrise. Photo: Glenn Harper.

Note that if you have a passport from Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Taiwan or the UK you should apply for this visa instead.

The Work and Holiday Visa (Subclass 462) will let you work for 12 months in Australia. However, you can only work for 6 months for each employer. For example, you could work from January to June at a bar in Sydney and from July to December at a different bar in Sydney, a bar in Melbourne, or even a newsagent in Perth! If 6 months with each employer and 12 months in total is too short, you might want to explore the visa for a long working holiday in Australia.

In some cases, you may be able to extend the 6 month limit on working with the same employer by proving that a project or case has taken longer than expected. For example, if you’re a web designer working on a large website project that has gone two months over schedule, you may be able to apply for an extension to the 6 month work period.

However, you can’t simply get an extension (ie work for more than 6 months with the same company) because there is a shortage of skilled workers in your industry.

You can also study or train for up to 4 months with this visa.
Finally, this visa also acts as a multiple entry visa for Australia. So you could visit New Zealand or Fiji (or any other country) while on your working holiday in Australia.

Age Restrictions

You must be between 18 and 30 years of age to apply for this visa. This means you can be 30 when you apply, but not 31.

Educational Qualifications

If you have a passport from Chile, Thailand or Turkey, you will need a university degree to apply for this visa. If you’re from the USA, you only need to have a high school diploma.

The eVisitor is a free tourist visa for Australia.

It’s only for European passport holders at this stage. US & Canadian passport holders may be included in the future but should apply for a regular tourist visa for Australia until then.

Once you have an eVisitor, you can visit Australia for up to 3 months at a time. You have 12 months from the date the eVisitor is granted. The eVisitor works just like a multiple entry tourist visa – you can come and go as many times as you like within your 12 month window.

Turimetta Beach at Narrabeen in Sydney. Photo: Blue Riot River.

The eVisitor visas are new – you can apply for one after October 27, 2008.

How Much Does An eVisitor Cost?

An eVisitor costs nothing – it is free of charge.

How Long Does It Take To Get An eVisitor?

You should get your eVisitor pretty much straight away. Most eVistors are automatically granted and you should receive your eVisitor via email notification within a few minutes of application.

Which Passports Are Eligible?

All EU passports and some other European passports are eligible.

The complete list of eligible passports is as follows:
Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech, Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom (UK) and Vatican City.

Do I Have To Be Outside Australia To Apply?

Yes.

How Do I Apply For An eVisitor?

You can apply online at the Australian Department of Immigration’s website. (Wait until after October 27)!