Australian Visa Information

The Working Holiday Visa gives young people the opportunity to travel around Australia over a 12 month period, with the option of part-time or casual employment. This visa is for tertiary educated people aged 18 to 30 to have an extended holiday in Australia. Working Holiday visa is also the largest visa category for temporary residents and accounts for around 45 per cent of the total.

Those eligible for a working holiday visa include (spring 2005) nationals of Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, South Korea, Sweden and the UK. If you hold a British, Canadian, Dutch or Irish passport you may apply in any country; others must apply in the country of their nationality. Applicants must satisfy the following criteria:

• The prime purpose of the visit is a temporary stay in Australia and permanent residence isn’t intended.
• Employment is incidental to the holiday and is to be used to supplement the money that you bring with you.
• Employment hasn’t been arranged in advance except on a private basis and on your own initiative.
• There’s a reasonable prospect of your obtaining temporary employment to supplement your funds.
• You can show that you have reasonable funds to support yourself for some of your time in Australia and pay for your return air fare. The minimum amount required is around £2,000 in the UK, although it isn’t necessary to have a return ticket at the time of your entry into Australia. It helps to have relatives or friends in Australia who can provide extra funds if necessary.
• You meet normal character requirements and health standards, where necessary.
• Full-time employment isn’t taken for more than three months with one employer.
• You don’t remain in Australia longer than 12 months and leave Australia when your working holiday visa has expired.
• You don’t remain in Australia longer than 12 months.
• You sign a declaration not to undertake any studies in Australia apart from an English language course of a maximum of ten weeks.

From November 2005, individuals who do three months of harvest work in Australia will be able to apply for a second working holiday visa. People from all countries with which Australia has a working holiday agreement will be eligible.

Applications can be made in person or by post (preferred). You should apply for a working holiday visa at least four to five weeks before your intended departure date, and, if you’re applying by post you should send documents by recorded delivery. If your application is approved, your visa is valid for 12 months from the date of first entry to Australia. If your first arrival date in Australia won’t allow you to have your full 12 months there, you can apply for an extension, although there’s a fee. If you plan to apply for an extension, you should apply around two months before the expiry of your temporary entry permit. An extension of stay beyond 12 months after your first entry isn’t possible.

A new list known as Employer Nominations Skilled Occupations List (ENSOL) took into effect on 2 April 2005. It is a list of occupations which may qualify those whose occupations are in this list to apply for permanent residence under certain conditions.

It is an alternative which can be available to applicant who would fail under the Skilled Migration Scheme because they are over 44 years old, cannot pass vocationalEnglish or their occupation in not in the Skilled Occupations List (SOL).

The ENSOL is a more extensive list than the Skilled Occupations List (SOL) or the restrictive Sydney and Selected Areas Skilled Shortage List (SSASSL). However, it requires an offer of employment for three years with an employer in Australia. The employer must be able to prove its financial capacity to employ the employee and provide a record of training of Australian citizens and permanent residents, among others. The sponsoring employer must be approved by the Department of Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs for the visa application to succeed.

Under the current legislation, an applicant under the Employer Nomination Scheme
must:
1. obtain a suitable skills assessment from the assessing authority similar to that required under the skilled migration scheme and must have been employed in the occupation to which the appointment relates for at least 3 years before making the application, unless exceptional circumstances apply or
2. be paid a salary for the position listed in the ENSOL that is at least the
amount of salary specified in a Gazette Notice. or
3. has worked full time in the same occupation in Australia for two years as a holder of a qualifying visa and with the sponsoring employer for one year immediately before making the visa application.

Unlike applications under the Skilled Migration Scheme, the Employer Nomination Scheme may allow employment of visa applicants over 44 years old as well as those who do not meet vocational English (e.g passmark of at least 5 each of reading, writing, speaking and listening in IELTS) in exceptional circumstances.

Thus, even if your occupation is not in the s Skilled Occupations List (SOL) or the restrictive Sydney Sydney and Selected Areas Skilled Shortage List (SSASSL) as long as it is in the Employer Nominations Skilled Occupations List (ENSOL) and you are being paid the required minimum salary or even if you are over 44 years old or you cannot pass the English test, if the sponsoring employer can prove “exceptional circumstances” and that you are required for its business operations for at least three years, you could be granted permanent residence. The key to this broad based permanent resident visa is finding a qualified sponsoring employer.

The Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) is designed to allow Australian Employers to recruit highly skilled staff from overseas or temporary residents already in Australia to fill vacancies which they have been unable to fill from the local labour market or their own training programs.