Questions about Australian Working Holiday Visa.

Hello everyone. Just to give a brief background, I am 18 years old, and will be attending the University of Waterloo in September 2007. I am interested in the Australian Working Holiday Visa, but I need some questions answered first.

1) If I am planning to leave to Australia in May 2008, when is the earliest I should apply for the visa?

2) Where can I found out about jobs that will be available for me in Australia? Will there even be many jobs available for an 18 year old student? If I do find a job, should I apply for it AFTER I have obtained my Working Holiday Visa?

3) Where can I found out about where I can live in Australia? (any recomendations would be appreciated)

4) As a University student, my summer runs from April - August. Is it okay that I only plan to spend 1, 2 or 3 months in Australia?

Any comments, suggestions, and answers to my questions would be appreciated. Thanks.

I can't answer all your questions but I can give them a shot.

1. The visa won't take too long, so I would suspect a couple of months before would be fine. If I remember correctly I think you'd find out in less than a week, but I'd really have to do some more research to be sure. I'll check later for you. Also, if you're only staying for about 4 months then you could apply earlier since you aren't staying the full year anyway.

2. For jobs check here: http://www.seek.com.au/
There will be lots of jobs, don't worry about that. Don't bother applying for anything until after you have your visa. To be honest I would almost guarantee you won't find a job before you arrive here, it's very hard to get a job from overseas. We had permanent resident visas but my husband couldn't get a job until we arrived in the country. I have seen places that give hints for the whole backpacker thing but I don't have time to look for them right now. I'll check it out later for you.

3. You can live anywhere you want here. So that's up to you. Do you want to live by the ocean, do you want to spend lots of time at the beach, do you want a big city or a small city, do you want lots of nightlife? I can't begin to recommend something unless you have an idea of what you're looking for.

4. It's okay if you only want to spend a few months here. Your visa is good for a year so you can leave as early as you want to. I hope you are aware that April to August is essentially there winter. For Canadians it won't mean too much, although it can get cool in the winter so you probably wouldn't be spending every day at the beach anyway.

Anyway, good luck. If I come across anything interesting I'll let you know.

If you apply online, the visa will be granted in less than 24 hours. I think I applied for mine around midnight and by 6am the visa approval was in my inbox.

You have 1 year from the day the visa is granted to enter the country. You have one year from that date before you have to leave the country. If you do three months of work at an approved place, you can extend your WH by another year. This work is usually agricultural.

There are a metric effload of places in major centres which help backpackers get jobs. Be aware that most of these jobs are fruit picking, bars, hostels etc. I would suggest you try to find a place which places backpackers in outback pubs. AWESOME experience for sure!

Yes, it is totally fine if you only want to spend a few months here, but it is a bit of a waste of the visa and you may find you want to stay on a bit. The visa only lasts a year from the date you entered Australia and time you spend out of the country does not matter. I would suggest that you spend those months fruit picking etc as then you can come back after university on your extended second year visa (the extended year does not have to be consecutive to the first).