The Australian government has increased the maximum age at which citizens of four countries can apply for an Australian working holiday visa.
Since 1 July 2026, Australia’s working holiday (subclass 417) visa is available to 18-35 year-olds from Cyprus, Finland, Germany and South Korea. Previously, the age limit for citizens of these four countries was 30.
Which nationalities receive a higher age limit?
Australia’s working holiday visa program is generally only available to citizens of eligible countries aged between 18-30. But with the four new countries added to the list, a higher age limit of 35 now applies to citizens of the following 10 countries:
- Canada
- Cyprus
- Denmark
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Ireland
- Italy
- South Korea
- UK
This age range is inclusive, meaning eligible people aged 35 can apply. In fact, it’s possible to apply until the day before your 36th birthday – even if your application is approved and/or you arrive in Australia after that date.
Does this also apply in reverse?
Australia’s working holiday visa agreements are typically reciprocal, meaning that they are available in both directions with the same or similar terms.
Of the six countries that Australia previously offered a higher working holiday visa age limit to, all six of these already offer their own working holiday visas to Aussies aged 18-35. The most recent of those countries to increase their age limit were the UK, Italy and Denmark.
But changes to visa conditions don’t necessarily happen in both directions at the same time. It is quite common that Australia will increase the visa age limit for a country, and then the partner country will reciprocate months later.
At this stage, it appears that South Korea will be the first of the four new countries to change its working holiday visa age limit for Australian applicants to 35. This is set to happen on 1 September 2026.
The German, Finnish and Cypriot governments have not yet indicated if/when they will also increase the maximum age at which Aussies can apply for working holiday visas in their countries to 35. But I would expect this to happen at some point.
Matt is the founder of Working Holidays for Aussies. Passionate about travel and always looking for great deals, he believes that a gap year is the perfect opportunity to immerse yourself in another culture and learn all the things they didn’t teach you in school.
Originally from Australia, Matt has travelled to over 100 countries, lived in 7 countries, and has extensive real-world experience with working holiday visas.
Learn more and connect with Matt Graham on LinkedIn.
