From July 2024 onwards, travellers from China, India and Vietnam who are interested in the Work and Holiday visa Australia will have to participate in a lottery. The Australian immigration service implements this measure to make the issuance of Work and Holiday visas fairer. European tourists can often use an eVisitor visa Australia, which does not include a lottery.
A lot of interest in the Working Holiday visa
Australia’s Working Holiday Maker programme is intended for young people who want to work in Australia. This programme includes two types of visa: the Work and Holiday visa (subclass 462) and the Working Holiday visa (subclass 417). These visas are very popular because they allow their holders to stay in Australia for a year, which can be extended by another year. Many young people use this visa for travelling around Australia, while working in the country to pay for their travels. Because of the high demand for the visa, Australia decided to limit the number of issued visas.
The number of applications for the Work and Holiday visa by travellers from China, India and Vietnam is significantly larger than the number of available visas. Australia issues 5000 Work and Holiday visas to Chinese and 1500 to Vietnamese travellers. The limit for Indian travellers lies at 1000 visas. The Australian Department of Home Affairs temporarily suspended the visa programme for Chinese nationals because of the high number of applications. Chinese nationals will be able to apply for the Work and Holiday again from 1 July. However, from then onwards, they will have to participate in the lottery.
Lottery should make the application process more fair
In the past, the available Work and Holiday visas were issued on a first-come, first-served basis. The Australian government decided to change this to a lottery system. This is supposed to even the odds of Chinese, Vietnamese and Indian applicants receiving a visa. According to the Australian authorities, the lottery will make the issuance of visa more transparent and streamlined.
Participating in the lottery will cost 25 AUD. Applicants have to register for the lottery via the website of the Australian immigration service. The systems will then randomly choose candidates from the pool of applicants. Travellers who are in the country already and want to apply for a second or third Work and Holiday visa will not have to participate in the lottery.
No lottery for European travellers
The lottery will only be implemented for applicants from China, India and Vietnam. Travellers from the UK or Ireland can apply for a Working Holiday visa without having to participate in the lottery. However, they still have to deal with a long and complicated application procedure and the relatively high cost of the visa. It usually takes multiple weeks for a Working Holiday visa to be granted, and the visa costs 485 AUD, which is approximately 250 GBP or 310 EUR.
British and Irish travellers can also use an eVisitor visa for Australia. Will you stay in Australia for no more than 3 months, and are you not planning to work in the country? If so, it is better to apply for an eVisitor visa compared to a Working Holiday visa. The eVisitor visa Australia is granted already after 5 days on average. The visa costs £24.95, which is considerably less than the Working Holiday visa.
Apply for the eVisitor visa Australia easily online