Subclass 462 — Work and Holiday visa

Eligibility snapshot

General information only — not immigration assistance or legal advice. Check the official Home Affairs page for current requirements, and a registered practitioner can advise on your circumstances. The Work and Holiday visa (subclass 462) is, in broad terms, a temporary visa that lets eligible young travellers from participating partner countries spend an extended holiday in Australia while doing some short-term work and study to help fund the trip. It sits alongside the Working Holiday visa (subclass 417) but applies to a different group of partner countries and typically carries some extra conditions of its own. In general terms, the visa is aimed at applicants who: - hold a passport from a country that participates in the subclass 462 arrangement (the participating countries differ from those for the 417, and the list can change over time); - fall within the program's young-adult age range; - are applying as an individual traveller rather than bringing dependent children to live in Australia; - can show a level of English that meets the program's standard; - can show the level of education or study the program asks for, which is one way this visa differs from the 417; - can demonstrate they have access to enough money to help support themselves, at least early in the stay; - meet Australia's standard character and health expectations. A distinctive feature of the subclass 462 is that, for many participating countries, applicants typically need a letter of support issued by their own government before they can apply. In addition, some countries have a country-specific pre-application step (sometimes run as a random selection or ballot) that must be completed before a visa application can be lodged. Both the letter-of-support requirement and any pre-application step are country-specific, so what applies depends on the passport held. The exact age range, English standard, education level, financial expectations, the participating-country list, and whether a government letter of support or a pre-application step applies are all set by the Department of Home Affairs and can change. This page does not state those thresholds. Confirm the current rules for the relevant passport on the official subclass 462 page, and a registered practitioner can advise on individual eligibility.

Costs

General information only. Platform and practitioner fees are always separate from, and shown distinctly from, any government charge. The main government cost is the Visa Application Charge (VAC), a fee paid to the Australian Government when the application is lodged. The subclass 462 has its own VAC, separate from other visa types. The exact amount is published by the Department of Home Affairs, is reviewed periodically, and can change — so this page does not quote a figure. The current amount, and any payment surcharge, should be confirmed on the official Home Affairs page and its Visa Pricing Estimator at the time of lodging, since the charge that applies typically depends on when the Department receives the application. Beyond the VAC, applicants should generally budget for ancillary costs that are not paid to the platform, such as: - obtaining and translating supporting documents; - any health examinations that may be requested; - police or character certificates; - any country-specific pre-application or ballot registration step, where one applies (this can carry its own separate fee in some countries); - and practical trip costs such as travel insurance, flights, and initial living expenses. Because the subclass 462 is generally an individual traveller visa rather than a family visa, there is typically no additional-applicant charge for dependants in the way some other visa classes have; however, whether anyone can be added to an application, and any cost of doing so, is determined by the current rules and should be checked on the official page. In all cases the VAC is a government charge collected by the Department of Home Affairs. It is entirely separate from any toolkit, platform, or registered-practitioner fee, which are commercial fees for guidance or services and are never part of the government charge. A registered practitioner can advise on the likely overall cost for a particular situation.

Common questions