Australia sees increase in Working Holiday visa applicants

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The number of young people wishing to travel and work in Australia on the Working Holiday visa has increased by three percent in 2011, according to figures released by Destination NSW at the Australian Youth Tourism Exchange at the Sunshine Coast.

The Australian Youth Tourism Exchange announced that the numbers of working holiday visa holders traveling to New South Wales alone grew by 2.1 percent for the same period. NSW saw 72.5 percent of the total 241,000 working tourists coming to Australia.

Destination NSW is a NSW government agency that aims to encourage tourists to visit the state.

"New South Wales received 174,900 working holiday visitors, spending 13.1 million nights in the state and contributing $751 million in expenditure," Destination NSW chief executive officer Sandra Chipchase said.

The working holiday visa allows 18 to 30 year olds to live and work in Australia for up to 12 months.

"The youth market represents strong short-term potential for tourism in Australia, as well as longer term potential through repeat visitation and spreading the message by word-of-mouth and social networking," added Chipchase.

In an effort to make Australia even more attractive to young people, the Australian Tourism Export Council recently put forth a proposal to the Australian government to change the requirements for the Working Holiday Visa.

"Australia stands to make significant economic gains through simple adjustments to the eligibility settings for this visa – benefits that would extend throughout Australia and to many sectors of the economy," said ATEC managing director Felicia Mariani. "ATEC is strongly advocating for the extension of the regional classification to the tourism industry – allowing WHV holders to extend their visa by 12 months after completing 88 days of work in a regional area and this has benefits that go beyond attracting more young travellers."

In order to be eligible for an Australian Working Holiday visa you must:

  • be outside Australia when you apply and, when your visa is granted
  • be aged between 18 and 30 years at the time of applying
  • be applying no more than 12 months before you intend to travel to Australia
  • not be accompanied by dependent children at any time during your stay in Australia
This visa will allow you to work in Australia for up to six months with each employer and study for up to four months. Visa holders are allowed to stay in Australia to 12 months.

If you would like to apply for an Australian visa, workpermit.com can help. workpermit.com is a specialist visa consultancy with nearly twenty-five years of experience dealing with visa applications. We can help with a wide range of visa applications to your country of choice. Please feel free to contact us for further details.