Australia Offers Work & Holiday Visas to Indians

More than two years after it was first announced, Australia has finally opened its Work & Holiday visa program to young people from India. The agreement officially launched on 16 September 2024.

Australia now offers 1,000 Work and Holiday visas per year to Indian citizens aged between 18-30 years old, as part of the Free Trade Agreement recently signed between the two countries.

Unfortunately, the demand for these visas outweighs the number available. Therefore, the Australian government invited eligible Indian citizens to register their interest in a ballot for the first round of visas between 1-31 October 2024. The Australian government will randomly select applications who registered during that period between 14 October 2024 and 30 April 2025, until the limit of 1,000 people is reached.

Registrations for this year’s Work and Holiday visa ballot are now closed. But Indians will have an opportunity to register for next year’s ballot at a later date.

What is the Australian Work and Holiday visa?

The Work and Holiday (462) visa allows Indian citizens to visit Australia for an extended holiday of up to one year. During this time, visa holders will be allowed to take up short-term work for up to six months per employer, and study for up to four months.

Those who meet certain requirements during their first year in Australia (e.g. by completing certain types of work) will be able to access second and third year “backpacker visas” as well. The full details are outlined in the reciprocal working holiday visa agreement between Australia and India.

What’s required to get a Work and Holiday (subclass 462) visa for Australia

The Work and Holiday (462) visa has different requirements to Australia’s Working Holiday (417) visa.

The basic requirements for Indian citizens to get a First Work and Holiday visa for Australia are:

• Hold a valid Indian passport
• Be aged 18-30 years old (inclusive) and outside of Australia at the time of applying for the visa
• Pay the Visa Application Charge (VAC)
• Have not previously held any type of working holiday visa in Australia
• Have enough money to support yourself initially in Australia (generally at least AUD5,000 or approx. INR275,000) and to buy a ticket home when you leave
• Meet the Australian government’s health and character requirements
• Have successfully completed at least 2 years of post-secondary study
• Have at least “functional” English language skills
• Have not had a previous visa application to Australia refused and you/your family members do not owe the Australian government any money
• Agree to sign the “Australian Values Statement”
• Will not be accompanied by dependent children

So that more people get an opportunity to use this visa, we hope that the initial limit of 1,000 Work and Holiday visas per year for eligible Indian citizens could be increased in the future.

Will Australians have access to working holiday visas for India?

Generally, working holiday visa agreements between two countries are reciprocal. This means that if Australia offers working holiday or Work and Holiday visas to citizens of another country, the partner country would offer the same to Australian citizens in return.

Of the 50 nationalities that Australia currently offers working holiday visas to, most of those countries also offer the same type of visa to Australians. The most notable current exception is China, which does not currently offer this type of visa to Australians despite Australia offering Work and Holiday visas to Chinese citizens.

It is not yet clear whether India will offer Work and Holiday visas to citizens of Australia in the near future, as this type of visa program does not currently exist in India. But the current version of the reciprocal working holiday agreement between Australia and India states:

If India implements a similar youth mobility program in the future with any country, it will extend the opportunity to participate in such a program to Australian citizens.