Australia to launch new visa ballot for Work and Holiday applicants from India

The Australian government has announced a new visa pre-application process, commonly referred to as a “ballot,” for high-demand Work and Holiday (subclass 462) visa applications from China, Vietnam, and India. This system aims to create a fair, simplified, and transparent method for selecting applicants where demand significantly exceeds the number of available spots.

The ballot is an electronic random selection process, where selected individuals are invited to apply for the Work and Holiday visa online. The registration fee for this ballot process is set at AUD 25. The introduction of this system will take place in the 2024-25 program year, applying only to first-time applicants from the specified countries.

Current visa holders or those who have already been granted a Work and Holiday visa from China, Vietnam, or India can continue to apply for a second or third visa online through ImmiAccount. The existing arrangements for applicants from other participating countries will remain unchanged.

Registrations for the first Work and Holiday (subclass 462) visa ballots for these countries will open later in 2024. The visa allows individuals aged 18 to 30 to have an extended holiday in Australia, enabling them to work short-term jobs to fund their trip, study for up to four months, and travel to and from Australia multiple times.

Under the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (AI-ECTA), up to 1,000 Indian citizens each year will have the opportunity to apply for this visa. Eligible Indian citizens between the ages of 18 and 30 can visit Australia for one year, undertaking short-term work and study during their stay.

For China, the implementation of the pre-visa application process faced delays in the 2023-24 program year. A new registration process will be conducted in 2024-25, and previous registrations from 2023 will not be valid for selection in the upcoming program.

Originally Published at ECONOMICTIMES