4 Working Holiday Visa changes in age limit

30 years or older travelers from some of the countries of the world can now apply for the Working Holiday Visa as there have been changes brought about in the age criteria of the visa. The age limit has now been expanded to the age of 35 years.

The Australian visa for Working Holiday now has an age limit of up to 35 years for citizens of Ireland and Canada, which has been done effectively in November 2018. France too has announced the changes in the age limit in July of 2019. Before that, the age was limited at 30 years for the visa and the change from 30 to 35 years has long been under debate.

The legislation in Australia has clearly stated the age limit for the makers of the Working Holiday visa:

• The person applying for the visa must have a passport that is eligible for a visa of this kind of a kind that a legislative instrument laid by the Minister specifies about this visa and is up to 35 years old

Countries like Germany, the UK or other partner countries are yet to make changes in the bilateral agreement of the Working Holiday Maker to increase the age limit to 35 years.

Must know: People who are over the age of 30 years and are presently on the Working holiday visa subclass 462 or  visa 417 in Australia are allowed to file for this visa for another year by covering the work that is eligible in the regional area for 88 days and another year after that as well.

• The effective date of the change, the age limit to get the Working Holiday Visa has been expanded to the age of 35 years. Earlier, the person had to be 30 years old at most to get this.

• This age limit change is only applicable to Canadians and the Irish.

• The Immigration Minister of Australia- David Coleman stated that the changes brought in would help strengthen the close relations of a long time with Ireland. He added that both the countries - Ireland, as well as Canada, were a part of the Working Holiday Maker agreement from the time it started in the year 1975 and therefore, it is fair and appropriate that these countries are first to be a part of the changed eligible age range. The previous year over 16000 Canadian and Irish citizens had been granted the same visa for Australia, where a lot of these visa holders were staying and working in the rural or regional areas.

• The Foreign Minister of Australia stated that a diverse collection of people would be able to utilize this scheme that would make stronger bonds between the countries.

• Patrick Donovan, the Irish Minister of State on his visit to Australia stated that ever since the program commenced in 1975, over 275 thousand Irish have stayed in Australia for up to 2 years under the program. Around 8653 visas had been issued in the year 2017 alone, to Irish people under this scheme. The reciprocal agreement of expansion of the age limit emphasizes the extent to which the program has been successful to date. 

The Working Holiday Visa 417 is temporary in nature and is for people who are young and would want to travel the country and work for up to 1 year. 

• The applicant must not be in Australia when applying for their first subclass 417 visa and also at the time there is a decision given.

• When applying for the second time for this visa, the applicant should be present in Australia at the time the visa is provided. 

• If a person applies from another country for this visa, they must not be in Australia at the time the permit is given. 

• One can normally work for up to 6 months with a single employer but a lot of Irish citizens use this visa as a way of obtaining sponsorship from their employers and ultimately, for the purpose of PR.

According to the reciprocal agreement between Australia and Ireland:

• Citizens of Australia are allowed to go to Ireland and work there. 

• It enables the participants of this to work for up to 2 years in the other country. 

• The Foreign Minister of Ireland, Simon Coveney mentioned that this program was designed to promote the exchange of culture to strengthen the links between the people of the two countries.

• This would enable their young people to get more opportunities for work and to travel as well.

• The decision of age limit expansion under this scheme enables several groups and communities to make the best use of this scheme and enhance the relationship between the two nations.

• O'Donovan has emphasized on the expansion on the age limit as a great initiative for wider success of the scheme by enumerating the number of visas that have been issued in the since the program was laid down and also how long the list of visas granted to the Irish for Working Holiday was, in just a year in 2017.

The rate at which Irish citizens have been migrating to Australia has gone down in the last few years. There were around 5300 people only in 12 months before April 2017 that had moved to Australia from Ireland. The Central Statistics Office has stated that this was a little more than a 3rd of the 2012 overall numbers when they went up to 17400