Country Poster

Working Holiday Visas are for young people to travel around Australia, see the sights and take an extended holiday for 12 months. To help with costs, short-term paid work is allowed during your holiday.

Working Holiday Visas accounted for 76,500 visitors to Australia in 2000-2001 and 85,200 during 2001-2002. These visas are becoming increasingly popular. During 2001-2002, 40,946 Working Holiday visitors came from the UK (nearly half the quota) 10,799 from Ireland, 9,755 from Japan, 5,869 from Germany, 5,729 from Canada and 4,659 from the Netherlands.

As part of the reciprocal exchange with Arranged Countries, 30,000 young Australians travelled overseas under working holiday arrangements.

This visa is for Australian citizens or permanent residents to sponsor a partner to Australia. You and your partner must be either married, or in a committed de facto spouse relationship. If your partner is travelling to Australia to marry you, but you are not married at the moment, then you should apply for a different visa, the Fiancé (Prospective Marriage Partner) Visa. If your partner is of the same sex as you, or in a relationship that is domestic but not intimate, then go to the Interdependent Partner Migration Visa.

Nearly half the Australian migration target levels are for Family Program Visas, in total 43,200 for the period 2002-2003. All of these immigrants will be sponsored by an Australian family member. The Spouse Visa application depends on your relationship with your partner rather than your work qualifications or your employment record.

Become one of the many thousands of satisfied people who have benefited from using our up-to-date, easy to use, Do-It-Yourself Application Program to secure their Australian Entry Visa. Our cost for this valuable information is only AUD$48(USD$35, EUR€28, GBP£19) and you receive full membership access for the next 30 days. This is a very small cost compared to what Legal Immigration Consultants charge you for this valuable information.

Independent skilled migrants can come to Australia without a sponsor if their qualifications, job skills, and record of employment is good. This means they will be able to settle into the Australian way of life and find work within a short period. If you are applying for this visa, you will also need excellent English and to be of a young working age.

This is the visa for young people who don't have family here, and who have good prospects, but no employer. Check out the criteria for this visa in our self-assessment section. When you arrive in Australia you can look for work 

In a multicultural society like Australia, where we all look like we came from somewhere else (most of us did!), it is not easy to identify anyone as an illegal foreign worker. In 1998-99 some 13,000 people were identified as working illegally, and in 2000 it had risen to 14,551. So there are many around.

There are three types of illegality:

   Someone whose visa has expired, and who should not be in Australia at all, let alone working.

   Someone who has a visa that does not have 'working provision' - for example a Tourist Visa. They are supposed to be having a holiday and visiting friends, not working. There are other visas without working provision.

These people have NO WORK stamped in their passport. Some visas for holidays are issued electronically - there is no passport stamp. If there is no passport stamp, then the passport holder has no right to work.

New Zealand passport holders have the same working rights as Australian citizens. They are exceptions.

   Someone who has 'limited working provision' on their visa, but they are not working within the limits. For example, Student Visas allow 20 hours a week of work during the term time. A student working illegally might be working all day, every day. They are not allowed to work that much as it interferes with their study hours.