How to Get a Second Year Australia Working Holiday Visa

If you are on a Working Holiday Visa in Australia and wish to stay longer, this is how you can apply for a second year visa in Australia. Here is all the information you need to renew your working holiday visa and enjoy a second year in this beautiful country.

Types of Visas

A Work and Holiday maker visa offers young overseas travellers the opportunity to have an extended holiday in Australia, with the added benefit of work and study rights. On a Working Holiday Visa, you can also travel to and from Australia as many times as you like over the visa term.

There are two types of Work and Holiday maker visas, these being a Working Holiday subclass 417 visa and a Work and Holiday subclass 462 visa. Identifying whether you hold an eligible passport is the first step in determining if you might qualify for either a subclass 417 or 462 visa. The Government continues to add to the list of countries participating in the Work and Holiday maker visa programme, which now totals 43, with the recent addition of Greece commencing from 1 July 2019.

A Work and Holiday maker visa lasts for 12 months from the date when you enter Australia (which you must do within 12 months of visa grant). There is also the option to apply for a second year Work and Holiday maker visa (for an additional 12 months stay) if you meet certain requirements.

As a result of changes recently enacted by the Government, from 1 July 2019, eligible applicants will be able to apply for a third year Work and Holiday maker visa if certain criteria are met. A key requirement to qualify will be the completion of an additional 6 months of specified work in a designated area of regional Australia during the period when the second year Work and Holiday maker visa is held.

Requirements & Eligibility to Get a Second Year Visa in Australia

What are the eligibility requirements for a second year Work and Holiday maker visa?

To lodge a valid application and to qualify for grant of a subclass 417 and 462 visa, you must:

Hold an eligible passport for the subclass 417 or subclass 462 visa;
Have an intention to remain in Australia as a genuine visitor, with your primary purpose being to have a holiday in Australia;
Be aged between 18 and 30 years (inclusive) at time of application. Canadian and Irish citizens applying for a subclass 417 visa have a higher maximum age of 35;
Not be accompanied by dependent children during your stay in Australia;
Either currently hold, or have held, a substantive visa during the 28 days before lodging your application if you are applying in Australia (a substantive visa is any visa excluding a bridging visa, criminal justice or enforcement visa);
Demonstrate that you have sufficient funds for your personal expenses for the first 3 months of your stay in Australia (minimum of $5,000) and for your departure fare from Australia (if you are applying from onshore, this requirement will be considered to have been satisfied unless the evidence suggests that you are destitute, meaning that you cannot support yourself with reasonable living expenses exceeding your ability to pay for them);
Have completed paid specified work in a designated area in regional Australia for at least 3 months full-time equivalent (88 calendar days) whilst you held your first year subclass 417 or subclass 462 visa (on a full-time, part-time or casual basis). If you are applying for a subclass 462 visa, the work must have been carried out after 18 November 2016;
Have a reasonable prospect of securing employment in Australia (if you are applying for a subclass 417 visa only);
Have an intention to comply with the conditions of a second year Working Holiday maker visa, if granted;
Have a good immigration record (including compliance with your first year Working Holiday maker visa conditions. Mandatory conditions applicable to a first year Work and Holiday maker visa are not to have been employed for more than 6 months with any one employer, unless you have received prior approval from the Department, and not to engage in training or study for more than 4 months); and
Meet health and character criteria.

Eligible Jobs

There are lots of different seasonal-jobs-working-holidays in Australia you can do in to qualify for a second working holiday visa including agriculture, forestry, fishing and pearling, mining and construction. You can find more information on the Australian government website which provides a full list of all the seasonal-jobs-working-holidays are eligible to renew your working holiday visa.

How to Start Your Renewal Application

If you would like to extend for a second working holiday visa you can do this in or outside of Australia.

The only conditions are if you apply from in Australia, you must be in the country when the visa is granted. Or if you do an application from outside Australia you need to be out of Australia when the visa is granted.

For more information and to start an application you can use an agency who will help you with your application or do it online on the Australian government website: homeaffairs.gov.au.