Any Working Holiday visa holder that wishes to extend their stay in Australia will be required to undertake the prescribed ‘regional work’ to be eligible to apply for a second or third year Subclass 417 visa.
The Department has further clarified and amended the definition of ‘regional work’ and replaced this with ‘specified Subclass 417 work’. This will allow any Subclass 417 holders who have undertaken ‘critical sector work’ in response to the COVID pandemic to have that work counted towards their second or third year working holiday visa extension.
Specified Subclass 417 work means work that:
(a) was carried out in one or more areas in Australia within the category of Agriculture, Construction and Mining work.
(b) was of one or more kinds of work specified for the purposes of this definition.
This amendment applies to applications made on or after 14 November 2020 and the specified work must have been carried out before that date.
In addition, application and transitional provisions recognise the contribution of Working Holiday visa holders by allowing that ‘special Subclass 417 work’ and ‘special Subclass 462 work’ in specific critical COVID pandemic sectors undertaken on COVID stream Subclass 408 and associated bridging visas will also count towards for further working holiday visas.
This special COVID work refers to ‘Critical COVID—19’ work in the healthcare and medical sectors, carried out after 31 January 2020, including but not limited to:
- Medical treatment, nursing, contact tracing, testing and research;
- Support services such as cleaning of medical and health care facilities and equipment.
Subsequent Working Holiday visas granted to COVID stream 408 visa holders will have twelve (12) month validity, starting on the day the COVID 408 visa ceases, to allow visa holder to gain the maximum benefit from both visas.
All specified work undertaken on the COVID Subclass 408 or associated Bridging Visa may be claimed for the subsequent Working Holiday visa applications, as long as some special Subclass 417 or Subclass 482 work was undertaken, there is no minimum requirement for this special work.
A gap of 28 days between the cessation of the previous Working Holiday Visa and the lodgement of the COVID stream under the Subclass 408 visa is permitted in line the lodgement requirements of the latter visa. Work on multiple COVID stream Subclass 408 and associated Bridging visas may be claimed, as long as there is not more than the 28 day gap between these COVID visas.
Do you need further assistance to understand about your eligibility for a Working Holiday visa extension? Contact Nevett Ford Lawyers today and make an appointment for a consultation.