Applying for a Working Holiday Visa (Subclass 417) to Australia – The ultimate step-by-step guide with screenshots

Creating your ImmiAccount and starting the WHV application process

Creating your ImmiAccount

Go to Homeaffairs.gov.au and find the Working Holiday Visa (Subclass 417) page, then click on the blue “Apply” button.

On the next page, click on “Create an ImmiAccount.”

OR

Click this direct link to the Create an ImmiAccount page.

If you didn’t pay attention to the tips above, you’ll get the following error messages.

Click on the screenshots to enlarge them!

For the first question, select “Individual,” since you’re submitting an application for yourself.

Don’t bother ticking the “LEGENDcom” box, it doesn’t apply here.

Next, you enter your personal information:

• Family name — If you have a hyphenated name, type both.
• Given names — Type your middle name as well, if applicable. Don’t use commas.
• Phone — Your phone number.
• Email address — Make sure it’s an address you use and check often! Enter your email address a second time below to confirm.

When you’re done, click the “Continue” button at the bottom right corner of the page.

Username

By default, your username will be your email address, but you can also choose any username you like. However, we recommend you use the default option—it’s easier to remember an email address you use regularly.

Password

Make sure it meets the security requirements—at least one uppercase, lowercase, number or special character—otherwise you’ll get an error message. Write it down somewhere safe where you can easily access it again when needed!

Three secret questions and answers

The key is to come up with easy questions and answers you won’t forget, while avoiding super obvious info that someone could guess easily to hack your account.

You can choose suggested questions from the drop-down menu or write your own questions, for example the name of a sibling, a pet or a significant place. The answer doesn’t have to be in English but remember you can’t use special characters (e.g. é, ê, ç, etc.).

Take a few minutes to pick the best questions and answers, as you may need them to recover a forgotten password… and since this is not an account you will log into often after you get your WHV, it’s easy to forget your password!

Security alerts

As an extra layer of security, you can choose to receive an email if:

• Your name is changed
• You or someone else logs into the account
• The password is changed

Read (or at least skim through!) the ImmiAccount terms and conditions and tick the box to acknowledge them. You may also have to tick the “I am not a robot” box.

Finally, click on “Submit.”

Congrats, you now have your very own ImmiAccount! You can start the WHV application process.

Shortly after creating your account, you will receive an email from the Department of Home Affairs ([email protected]). Simply click on the link to confirm your email address. You have 28 days to finalise this step.

Starting the WHV application process

• If you’re ready to proceed with your application, click on “Continue.” You will be directed to your ImmiAccount homepage.

• If you’d rather wait to start the application process, keep a direct link to ImmiAccount handy. Whenever you’re ready to proceed with your application, click on the link, enter your username and password, then click “Continue.”

Click “New application,” then “Work & Holiday.” Select “Working Holiday Visa (417).” You will be directed to the first page of the application process.

Pause for a second—check that it says “Application for a Working Holiday Visa.” All good? Now you’ll also notice you’re at page 1/12. Good job!

Now, if you see “Application for a Work and Holiday visa” and “1/16,” you started an application for a WHV Subclass 462. It may be the right visa for you if you’re from a country eligible for Subclass 462, but you’re reading the wrong tutorial right now!

If you started the wrong visa process but are eligible to a WHV Subclass 417, go back. Otherwise, if you continue applying for a visa you’re not eligible to, you’ll get the following message:

Can I save my application and finish it later?

You bet! From page 3/12, you can save your application in progress by clicking the “Save” button at the bottom of the page.

The next time you log in, you’ll see your ongoing application on your homepage. Just click “Edit” to go back to the last completed step.

You can pick up where you left off.

Ready to fill out all the required fields? Click through to the next page of this guide, where we’ll walk you through the application.