How to Apply for 417 Working Holiday in Australia

So you are thinking about doing a working holiday visa in Australia. You are Canadian. You don't know where to start. Well let me help you!

First off, this may be one of the easiest working visas to get. I will take you through some simple steps on how to get your visa and what to expect when you arrive.

Step 1:

There are going to a hundred of different websites on Google that says "Australian Working Holiday 417 Class" but most of these are fee for service. They don't do anything extra really and charge you almost double what the actual visa costs. Avoid these at all costs.

What you want to do is find the official Government website where you can apply.

Here you can create an account and start the application process. From there follow each line and answer truthfully. As long as you don't have a criminal record, you should be okay to get accepted quickly. The visa cost is $440 CDN.

After you applied, you will get a referral number/letter from the Australian Government to proceed with your medical check. This is your HAP ID. You will need to bring this to your medical check.

Step 2:

Now there is a blurred line on this part of the application process as some people did have to do it and some didn't. But if you have LIVED or traveled to South America or Asia in the past 6 months, then you are required to get a medical check up done. You can get this check done in almost any country in the world that is stated on the Australian Government website.

For myself, I was back in Canada to get it done and visited the VisaDoctor, Dr. Lyndon Mascarenhas. It does cost around $300 CDN.

The medical check is an X-RAY as well as a urine sample. They are testing for HIV and Tuberculous.

Your 417 visa will not be accepted until you complete this medical check up. Dr. Mascarenhas is really good. He basically expressed mine through, as I was leaving Canada soon to head back to Southeast Asia.

If you arrange a medical check as soon as you pay for your visa, you could essentially have your 417 visa in less than 3 days. Some people even get it faster!

Once all is done, you will receive an email like this with your Transaction Reference number and Application ID.

Once you have received an online visa GRANTED, you are ready to go. It's that easy!

You have 1 year to enter from the day they granted it to you. Then you have 1 year to live and work from the day you enter.

*Australia is an Auto-Immigration country. Upon entering, they do say to have $5000 and your granted visa printed, but there is no one there to check these things. You literally walk to immigration, scan your passport, grab a small customs ticket. Get a photo taken of you from a machine and you are in. There is no one to ask you what you are doing there, or how long you will stay. *

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The hardest part of this whole process is once you get to Australia.

When you arrive you will need to do a few things before employers will start looking at you.

1) You need to apply for a TFN. Again, there are many websites that may charge a service fee. This one is the only legit, correct one. Note that it will take up to 28 days to get a number.

2) Open a bank. I opened my bank with Commonwealth Bank as many friends suggested that it is one of the best banks. All you need is your passport and an address of where you are staying so that they can mail you your card.

3) Start applying for jobs. This is the most difficult part. You can use websites like Indeed, Seek, BackpackerJobBoard, etc. You can even try Facebook groups to help too. It depends on what kind of what you are looking for.

If you want to be granted a second year visa, you must do 88 day in rural work.

*Warning* Some farms pay only per bucket, or by how much you pick, which can leave you working long,hard hours will little to no pay. Try to find farms that pay per hour or offer both.

I won't go too much deeper into types of jobs because that is totally up to you.

PS. Don't stress too much if you don't find work right away. It is common for all of us looking for the same thing.

Good luck!