How to apply for a 2nd or 3rd WHV to Australia (full guide)

To qualify for a second Australian Working Holiday Visa, you must have completed at least 88 days of specific work (see the next two chapters for more information) during your first Australian Working Holiday Visa. And to qualify for a third Australian Working Holiday Visa, you must have completed at least 179 days of specific work during your second Australian Working Holiday Visa from July 1, 2019, only, not before.

Full-time work

First of all, you can complete these 88 or 179 days of work in one go or over several time periods. There are no specific rules about that. You can also work for a single employer or several.

A full day’s work = one day towards your eligibility. And a full day’s work can be 7 or 8 hours, depending on the industry. Generally speaking, a working week in Australia is between 35 and 40 hours, depending on the field. If you work 4 or 5 hours a day, you can’t count your day as a full working day.

A long working day does not count as 2 days, even if you work 14 hours.

Full-time workers must count weekends → 5 working days = 7 days towards your eligibility.

If your workday is 6.5 hours but 6 days a week, it counts as a week of work.

What does “full-time work” mean?

Australia’s definition of “full-time work” is based on the number of hours usually completed by workers in the industry, so it could be 35, 38 or 40 hours.

If you are offered to work less than 35 hours a week, this may not be enough, so we recommend that you discuss this with your boss. Australia provides several examples, with Karsten carrying out full-time continuous work and Karla completing separate periods of full-time and part-time work, which may give you some pointers.

To find out the maximum number of hours you can work per week in your field, go to Fairwork. Enter your industry and sub-industry:

Click on “Show information tailored for me” for detailed info.

Part-time work and separate periods of work

Working holiday makers working part-time or occasionally only count days worked (full working day).

Working holiday makers hired full-time for a defined period and who are off work due to illness may count these days, as long as proof of illness was provided to the employer.

Working holiday makers who are looking for work, but who are unable to work due to injury or weather conditions (e.g., forest fires), cannot include their days not worked towards eligibility.

Practical examples

Several immigration websites offer several practical examples to help you understand your eligibility.

The following examples meet the requirements:

• Working week: Working on a farm for three months for five days each week, where the industry standard is five days a week of full-time work.
• Shift work: Employed as a miner for three months and under the employment contract are only required to work every second week, which is the standard full-time contract for the industry.
• Blocks of work: Completing 60 days of harvest work, followed by a period of travel for two months. Then completing another 28 days in construction, bringing the total days worked to 88 days.
• Sick days: Employed for a three-month period but took several days of sick leave during the period.

The following examples do not meet the requirements:

• Working week: ​When five days of work a week is the industry standard on a farm, but the applicant only works four days a week for three months.
• Seasonal circumstances: Picking bananas for 80 days on a casual basis, but the applicant cannot find more work as there is a cyclone and their first Working Holiday visa ceases.

How about volunteer work?

As of November 30, 2015, volunteer work (through HelpX, WWOOFing or Workaway, for example) no longer counts as “specified work.” Only paid employment is eligible because employers in the fruit-picking industry were abusing the system. But this rule was relaxed after the 2019 forest fires—read Chapter 6 for details.