Australia | New ballot initiative for Work and Holiday program commences

The Australian government’s ballot initiative for the Work and Holiday program for mainland China, India and Vietnam has commenced for program year 2024-2025.

Key Points:

• The government will implement a visa pre-application ballot process in the 2024-2025 program year for these high-demand countries.
• As of Oct. 1, separate visa ballots have opened for China, India and Vietnam.
• The registration fee is 25 Australian dollars (about US$17) for eligible passport holders to enter the ballot process and be randomly selected to apply for a Work and Holiday visa.
• The government set an annual cap on initial subclass 462 visas for the program year:
  • China — 5,000
  • India — 1,000
  • Vietnam — 1,500

Additional Information: As BAL previously reported, previous registrations lodged for the program in 2023 cannot be used for selection in the new program, and the pre-application process will apply only to first Work and Holiday subclass 462 visa applicants from China, Vietnam and India. Foreign nationals from these countries who have already been granted a first Work and Holiday visa can continue applying for a second or third Work and Holiday visa online. Information on the pre-visa application process is published on the department website.

BAL Analysis: The new initiative is specifically designed to address the number of Work and Holiday visa registrations, which significantly exceed the number of places available to the participant countries each year.

This alert has been provided by the BAL Global Practice Group.

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