Starting this June, holders of United Kingdom passports between the ages of 18 and 35 will be eligible to apply for Australia’s Working Holiday visa (subclass 417) after the maximum age limit has increased.
The new changes come as part of the new arrangements under the Working Holiday Maker (WHM) program as well as the Youth Mobility Scheme, taken by authorities in Australia as well as the United Kingdom, following the implementation of the Australia-UK Free Trade Agreement, VisaGuide.World reports.
At the same time, starting from July 1, next year, Britons can be granted more than three separate Working Holiday visas without being required to meet specified work conditions.
In addition, following the further expansion of the program, part of the Australia-UK Free Trade Agreement, young Australians planning of working holiday in the UK will soon have an additional five years to get there, according to the announcement of the federal government.
At present, UK’s Youth Mobility Scheme (YMS) is restricted to persons aged 18-30 years old, taking into account Australians, however, the age limit is now set to increase for five years.
Besides, the age limit for Britons applying for working holidays in Australia will increase to 35.
According to the Immigration Minister Andrew Giles the changes will “deliver enhanced reciprocal pathways for young UK and Australian passport holders to live and work in each country.”
Australia’s working holiday visa allows young internationals to benefit from the program by traveling there and working for a specific period of time.
A report by Euronews showed that from July until December last year, authorities in Australia issued over 15,000 working holiday visas for UK citizens. The statistics show that Britons are the main beneficiaries of this program, followed by nationals of France (10,474), Ireland (7,410) Germany (6,436), and Italy (5,753).
At present, the following countries benefit from Australia’s holiday working visas: Canada, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, France, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Italy, Ireland, Japan, Republic of Korea, Norway, Netherlands, Sweden, Taiwan as well as the UK.
At present, the following countries benefit from Australia’s holiday working visas: Canada, Cyprus, Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Denmark, Germany, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, France, Italy, Ireland, Republic of Korea, Japan, Norway, Netherlands, Sweden, Taiwan as well as the UK.
Authorities in Australia agreed to increase the age limit for UK citizens from 30 to 35 in December 2021, however, the amendments were still not effective.
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