Young Irish workers in Australia face uncertainty with planned overhaul of popular visa

PLANNED CHANGES TO the visa of choice for young Irish people working in Australia are set to make extending residency much more uncertain.

The extension of two types of working holiday visas is set to be majorly restricted under reforms announced by Australia’s immigration minister.

Two Working Holiday Maker visa categories, subclass 417 and subclass 462, are available to eligible passport holders from various participating countries.

Irish passport holders are eligible for a working holiday visa under subclass 417 if they are aged between 18 and 35, among other requirements.

This visa allows holders to work, study and travel to and from Australia for a period of 12 months. If holders complete three months of specified work, they are eligible to apply for a second working holiday visa, and on a second visa complete six months of specified work to become eligible for a third year.

An individual is only eligible to stay for three years under the different subclass 417 visa years.

What’s changing?

Currently, those resident in Australia under these visas who apply for a second or third year are generally granted another visa as long as they fulfil the legislative requirements.

Now, the relevant minister has proposed annual limits to the number of second and third-year visas that will be issued by the state. Who gets one of these limited number of visas would be decided by a ballot, home affairs minister Tony Burke said.

Burke has proposed an annual limit of 45,000 second-year visas – and just 5,000 third-year visas.

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Figures provided by the Australian government indicate these limits will reduce the number of second-year places by around 21%, and around 84% for third-year places, according to Australian law firm Rostron Carlyle Lawyers.

This means that many Irish passport holders currently living and working in Australia on these visas have an increased likelihood they will not be able to extend their stay.

The other working holiday visa type, subclass 462, is already subject to a greater number of restrictions.

Plans changing

A number of people currently on either first or second-year visas have said their plans have changed as a result of the proposed limitations.

Rather than complete the specified work required to apply for another year – which must be undertaken in areas outside hotspots Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane – some visa holders said they would prefer to live in the major cities and complete short-term work, which is permitted but does not count towards another visa.

One person wrote online that they’d rather “not lose three months of my holiday just to miss the spot in the ballot”.

Another pointed out that six months of specified work is required to apply for a third-year visa – of which there will only be 5,000 available under the proposals.

“If you have just 12 months guaranteed, you might enjoy these 12 months in a nice place where there’s, for example, a beach rather than going to the deepest outback where there is nothing to do just work,” another said, adding that it “doesn’t sound appealing” if they miss out on the ballot on top of the visa fees.

Meanwhile, Australian media have reported that second-year visa workers employed in the regional area of Far North Queensland have already elected to leave their posts over the slated changes.

The chief executive of an Australian hospitality and resort group said that 45% of its 500 employees were on working holiday visas, and many would rather not risk spending six months working regionally to “potentially qualify” for a third year in Australia.

Other tourism and hospitality groups, as well as farming representatives, called on the government to scrap its plans for a ballot system, saying these industries in regional and remote Australia rely on these visa holders.