Australia’s Working Holiday (subclasses 417 & 462) program offers young travelers the opportunity to explore the country while funding their adventures through short-term employment. Recent changes have extended the age limit for certain nationalities, allowing more individuals to take advantage of this unique experience.
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Age Limit Increased to 35 for Some Nationalities
Countries with age increased
This is great news for travellers over 30 years old from a few countries! Indeed, the age eligibility for applying for an Australian Working Holiday Visa expanded to 35 years for some nationalities!
- In 2018, Working Holiday Visa Australia age limit increased to 35 years for Canadian and Irish citizens.
- In 2019, it was France that announced the same change !
- Since 2022 the age limit for Italian and Danish citizens wanting to work and travel in Australia has also increased by five years – from 30 to 35 years of age. Australian citizens up to the age of 35 will also benefit from reciprocal arrangements with Italy and Denmark.
- And finally, since July 2023, the age limit increased to 35 years for UK passport holders!
Migration Act Extract
Those changes can be seen in Schedule 1—Countries or regions, passport conditions and age requirements in the instrument Migration (Arrangements for subclass 417 visa applications) Instrument (LIN 22/051) 2022 and Migration (Arrangements for subclass 417 visa applications) Amendment Instrument (LIN 23/047) 2023.
It is also noted on the immigration website under the ‘age condition’ for a WHV.
Australian legislation clearly defines the age limit for Working Holiday visa makers :
(2) The applicant:
(a) holds a working holiday eligible passport of the kind, or of one of the kinds, specified in a legislative instrument made by the Minister for the purposes of this subclause; and
(b) is aged at least 18 and no more than:
(i) 35; or
(ii) if a younger age is specified in the instrument mentioned in paragraph (a) for the kind of passport the applicant holds—that younger age.
Therefore if no age is specified, it means that the age limit is 35 years old.
Other partner countries (such as Germany) are still in the process to amend the bilateral Working Holiday Maker agreement expanding the eligibility age to 35.
In Summary: 🧑🎓 Who Can Apply Up to Age 35?
As of 2023, citizens from the following countries can now apply for a Working Holiday Visa (WHV) up to the age of 35 (inclusive):
- United Kingdom
- Canada
- France
- Ireland
- Italy
- Denmark
For all other eligible countries, the age limit remains at 30 years.
For UK Passport Holders 🇬🇧
The UK – Australia Free Trade Agreement has entered into force and the age limit for UK passport holders has been increased to 35 since July 2023.
With the agreement, UK passport holders are able to:
- apply for a Working Holiday visa between the ages of 18 and 35 years inclusive since 1 July 2023
- can be granted up to three separate Working Holiday visas without having to meet any specified work requirements. These arrangements apply to all Working Holiday (subclass 417) visa applications lodged by UK passport holders on or after 1 July 2024.
UK passport holders, including those who previously entered Australia on a Working Holiday (subclass 417) visa using a different eligible passport, do not have to meet the specified subclass 417 work requirement when applying for a second or third Working Holiday visa on or after 1 July 2024.
More info : UK – Australia FTD
Key Points About the Age Limit
- Application Timing: You must apply for the WHV before your 36th birthday.
- Visa Granting: It’s acceptable if the visa is granted after you turn 35, as long as the application was submitted before your 36th birthday.
- Multiple Visas: Eligible individuals can apply for up to three WHVs, each requiring specific regional work (UK passport holders exempted).
Extending Your Stay: Second and Third WHVs
People currently on a Working Holiday Visa in Australia (subclasses 417 or 462) and over 30 years old, are eligible to apply for a second or third year visa if they are from France, Ireland, Canada, Italy, Denmark and UK.
For Subclass 417 visa holders, you’re eligible to apply for a second year if you have completed three months (or 88 days) of specified work in regional areas of Australia during your first year visa. This work often includes farming, fishing, mining, and construction. Holders of a second Subclass 417 visa can apply for a third year by undertaking six months of specified work in specified regional areas during their second year.
For Subclass 462 visa holders, a second year is possible if you complete three months (or 88 days) of specified work in northern Australia in certain industries, including tourism and hospitality, agriculture, forestry, and fishing. As with the 417 visa, a third year is possible for 462 visa holders who complete six months of specified work during their second year.
Benefits of the WHV Program
- Work Opportunities: Engage in various short-term jobs to fund your travels.
- Cultural Exchange: Experience Australian culture firsthand.
- Travel Flexibility: Explore Australia’s diverse landscapes and cities.
- Extended Stay: Possibility to extend your stay up to three years with additional regional work.
Can you copy and paste the email here? It would be interesting to see the wording.
With regard to the age change: it’s just changing the number from 30 to 35 in the system at the same time as the partner country. It’s been done five times already. The likely cause of the delay is the removal of the specified work requirement as there was discussion in the Australian government during Q1-Q2 2022 about the need to research its potential impact before implementation.
I hate to bring down any optimism within this group but I also ended up contacting the Australian department of foreign affairs and trade and they also confirmed in writing that the age changes would happen sometime between Q3 2023 and Q1 2025.
So it appears it is not as simple as just ‘changing the ages over to 35’
=/
I’ve viewed the petition on the map and noticed there are a few signatures near me. Gwent, Ogmore and Caerphilly. I’m in the Vale of Glamorgan. Just wondered if it’s anyone on here? Would be good to connect.
Thanks Jonny, appreciate you doing this. Unfortunately I’m in Australia and cannot sign, but hoping it gathers momentum.
Cheers
No worries at all, anything to try and help get what we all want haha.
Just this minute signed it Johnny
Cheers Dan 🙂 try and get any friends and family members to sign it as well 🙂
We have 17/100,000 signatures so far haha
My petition has been published guys!
You need to be a UK Citizen to sign so if we can all share the link below and push to get as many signed as possible! 🙂
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/630917
This might be good news for us. It looks like the new Australia/India visa changes are happening around March time however, until now they also said it would be within 2 years.
If they are changing it that fast from EIF hopefully it will be the same for us.
https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/india-uk-sign-and-exchange-letters-for-young-professionals-scheme/article66357816.ece
Sorry, ignore me. This is UK and India they are talking about.
An ideal outcome would be they flick the visa switch to 35 at 01/03/23. But seeing as how this has been handled and all the waiting and misinformation, it would be just my luck that its 2025 instead.
I think as we’ve been waiting so long for this, even a few weeks is seen as a long time.
I’m optimistic we will be hearing some good news by March. Still a bit of time away yet but at least it’s getting somewhere now In my opinion.
Committee Stage can last up to a week and then Report Stage occurs once again, 2 weeks after that! I think a reasonable time frame would be for this bill to be done by end of Feb/ early March best case scenario.
Will have to wait and see though however, as this thing has taken its time!!
2 weeks after a reading is considered “much faster”?
There are still multiple stages remaining until final sign off.
It’s withing the normal time frame and not delayed.
Also, the next two stages happen at the same time (report stage and 3rd reading)
Then it’s royal assent.. so we aren’t far away now 🙂
This is all looking good. Committee stage is coming much faster than average for non-emergency bills.
With regard to us getting an answer:
I called the office of Andrew Giles (the Immigration Minister) today. The person that answered wasn’t able to give me any information other than what is already online. When I asked if he is able to make any decisions regarding when the age change happens they responded “I’m not able to answer that”.
Now is the time to start making some noise. If they get more calls regarding the age change for Brits it should get pushed up the chain. So if you can I’d encourage everybody to give the office a call and ask when it will happen. The previous immigration minister was first to announce the age change for Italians and Danes so this is where the announcement regarding ours should come from.
Andrew Giles Office: +61 (03) 9497 9783
10pm UK is 9am in Melbourne where his office is located.
Hopefully it will move quickly onto the next stages after that…and we will FINALLY get an answer….hopefully!
Well after committee will be the report stage and 3rd reading at the same time then to Royal assent and into law nearly there
Committee stage is on 23rd January 🙂 looks to be moving a lot fast than it did in the HoC
Australia definitely did not get it done in two weeks.
The bill was first tabled in February 2022 in Australia and didn’t get passed until November 16. It took the Australian JSCOT two and a half months alone to process it. The first reading of the bill in the UK was May 2022.
Both governments have taken their time with this.
Losing hope, while I was watching they kept on mentioning how Australia have had a such a good deal and the U.K. haven’t and how the meat market especially is going to hurt local farmers and carbon footprint a lot of them wasn’t happy. So I think this is why it’s took so long and even watching the live feed could tell they was dragging their feet on it.
You can watch it via Twitter or Facebook page, but again didn’t really mention anything mainly the meat produce. But like I said they’re looking to get it sorted in the next few weeks. It seems. One mentioned that they hope to get 2/3 of the deals done in the first quarter of the deal. (USA,China,Australia/New Zealand)
One of the lords did mention the visa briefly and he said it’s a great thing and they hope to increase the ages with other countries when negotiating trade deals.
No info on when it will happen but at least they are very positive about it
That is positive. Did you catch their name by any chance? Given that now is the time the lords will be making amendments to the bill it might be worth trying to contact them. I’m not sure if this bill covers the WHV (I doubt it) but if we can get the ear of one person who already views it positively it could make some difference. They’re in the government talking to people very day after all.
Yawn.
The Australian side got handled in 2 weeks. UK government dropping the ball as usual.
Why do things in the UK take so long? The Australian side of the deal was ratified over 2 weeks.
I agree. If the third reading is a few weeks away we’re looking at late Feb early March for it to be passed and EIF a month later. Both sides can agree to EIF sooner so there’s a possibility it could happen immediately after receiving Royal Assent. They don’t exactly need extra time to prepare for it, it’s not like it will have happened suddenly .
Watched part of the live feed today while they was going back and forth they mentioned that the committee stage and 3rd reading would be done over the next few weeks
If that’s the case it’s looking like a March entry into force then.
Just want some info on the visas haha
Yeah I have my fingers crossed they schedule the committee stage asap!
Losing hope – it’s definitely happening as it’s on the house of lords timetable for today. 🙂
https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3152
What’s the odds by the end of today the reading never happens? Based on how everything has been handled by the UK government, its possible
Definitely worth a shot!
Cool, I’ll wait to hear from you when I can sign.
The second reading in the HoL is today. Let’s hope they have no amendments.
Great idea Jonny. I’ll be signing and asking all my friends and family to do the same. When do we need to start?
Will you be posting it one the Facebook page where you saw the foreign affairs email too?
This is where I’m at with it…
“5 people have supported your petition so far. We’re checking your petition to make sure it meets the petition standards. If it does, we’ll publish it. This usually takes a week or less.
Once your petition has 21 signatures it won’t be able to add more until it’s been checked. So, please wait until it’s been checked and published before sharing it with lots more people.”
Just need to wait for it to be published so as soon as they email me I will let you all know when to sign
Charles – yeah I’m going to share it on all the Australia pages I can find. One of them have 239k followers so hopefully will get plenty signatures from this.
It’s worth a shot
I’ll sign it when you get it up
At this stage I’m not putting too much mental energy anymore into this visa situation, it’s better to just have no expectations and move on with my life as I’ve invested so much time into it for the last couple years.
Keep your head up mate! We are all due some luck.
Just done it for you Jonny 🙂
🙂