Holiday visa holders to help Australia’s bush fire victims

Australian working holiday visa is an Australia travel visa. It lets the visa holders holiday in Australia and work in temporary jobs. With these jobs, they can cover their living and travel expenses. It gives them the chance to earn in Australia during their holiday. It's thus beneficial for Australian regions and enterprises too.

Rehabilitation efforts of the Australian population are on after the bushfires. To improve these efforts, some temporary changes to working holiday visas have been made. According to the federal government, these changes will enable backpackers to help the affected areas. They will be helping the fire-ravaged communities. These communities need to pull themselves up from the catastrophe.

The visa holders will stay longer, and the employers will use them better in specific jobs. These jobs will need more human resources, which the tourists will fill in for.

What is a working holiday visa?

Working Holiday visa is issued as part of a cultural exchange program between Australia and other countries. Under this, young travelers can have a long holiday in Australia. They will also be allowed to earn money through short-term jobs.

The visa is technically named the Working Holiday visa (subclass 417). It is valid for a year and can be applied for 3 times. The first working holiday visa will allow you to stay for 12 months. You need to be 18 to 30 years (both inclusive) to be eligible. French and Irish citizens should be 18 to 35 years old.  The visa holder can work in temporary jobs during their stay in Australia.

The visa can be applied for a second year. For this, the applicant should have held the visa (subclass 417) once. He/she should have also completed at least 3 months’ work in Australia.

To apply for the visa for the third year, the applicant should have held the visa (subclass 417) twice. The applicant should have completed at least 6 months’ work in Australia.

Another visa of the same nature is the Working Holiday visa (subclass 462). Subclass 417 visa scheme is applied to backpacker nations. These include Germany, Canada, the UK, and Sweden. The Subclass 462 visa scheme is applied to developing countries. These include Turkey, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and China. The Subclass 462 visa is also called a "work and holiday" visa.

How will the changes to working holiday visa help?

Under the present system, employers can hire the same tourists or backpackers for only 6 months at a time. Also, the system doesn’t count volunteer work.

With the changes, regional employers can employ the same backpackers for up to a year. This will be applicable particularly in the fire-affected areas. Voluntary work done in disaster zones will be counted by the system. It will get added to the days of work needed for second-year or third-year visas.

Response to the changes

Backpackers on working holiday visas are happy about the new changes. They find it an opportunity to stay and work longer in Australia. The backpackers will be employed in farm jobs and rebuilding fences in rural areas. The volunteers are even offered daily meals and a place to sleep.

The farmers and rural folks are also very happy about these changes. They are now getting many young people from around the globe who want to help Australia. The employee shortage for works in regional areas is thus getting eliminated.

This Australian model is effective to manage priority issues through immigration.

If you are looking to Study, Work, Visit, Invest or Migrate to Australia, talk to Y-Axis, the World’s No.1 Immigration & Visa Company.

If you found this blog engaging, you may also like…

Take flight to a dream abode: Emigrate to Canada from the UAE