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What are working holiday visas?

The Working Holiday Maker (WHM) program has two visa subclasses:

• the Working Holiday (Subclass 417) visa and
• the Work and Holiday (Subclass 462) visa (WHM visas)

These visas allow young people to work while funding a holiday in Australia. If you work in regions and industries where there are critical skill shortages, you may be eligible to extend your stay and apply for a second and third WHM visa.

What’s changed?

The Australian government will waive visa application charges (VACs) for WHM visa holders who are offshore and who were unable to come to Australia or had to leave early because of COVID-19.

1. There will be ZERO fees for people who apply for a replacement WHM visa if they hold or held a 'COVID-19 affected' visa.
   
   

What counts as a ‘COVID-19 affected’ visa?

You hold or have held a ‘COVID-19 affected’ visa if:

• you were granted a WHM (Subclass 417 or 462) visa before 20 March 2020;
• your WHM visa expired on or after 20 March 2020 while you were outside Australia OR will expire before 31 December 2021 while you are outside Australia; and
• you did not travel to Australia on your WHM visa or departed Australia before your visa expired.

If the above applies, you will be able to apply for another WHM with a nil VAC.

In other great news for those doing ‘specified work’ (ie. working in certain approved industries), a COVID-19 affected WHM visa will not count towards the maximum number of three WHM visas you can hold.

You can keep up to date with the latest concessions for WHM visa holders on the DHA’s website.

Source: Migration regulations