Chile: more Work & Holiday places

‘From this week, the number of places available to Chileans under the Work and Holiday Maker program will increase from 2,000 to 3,400 annual visa places’

Last week, we published an article on the new LIN 19/088 which, as of 18 Feb 2019, does away with the need for government support for Chilean applicants.

Today, another good announcement was made through the Minister’s website, as follows:

Tuesday, 19 February 2019

Increased Work and Holiday visa arrangements with Chile

Australia’s Work and Holiday visa arrangement with Chile now allows more young people to explore, work and study in Australia.

From this week, the number of places available to Chileans under the Work and Holiday Maker program will increase from 2,000 to 3,400 annual visa places.

Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, David Coleman, said the expansion of the Work and Holiday visa with Chile follows changes to the program announced in November 2018.

“There has been strong participation from young Chileans in the Working Holiday Maker visa program over many years and the increase in places will provide more opportunities for work and cultural exchange,” Mr Coleman said.

“The success of this Work and Holiday visa arrangement which began in 2006 is a testament to our strengthening people-to-people links between our two nations.”

“The increase to places will provide regional areas and farmers with access to more workers.”

While on their first visa, Chilean nationals may undertake specified work in regional areas to become eligible for a second Work and Holiday visa and extend their stay. From 1 July 2019, the option of a third year stay will also be available to them if they undertake six months of regional work in their second year in Australia.

The Work and Holiday visa requires first-time Chilean applicants to hold or be studying towards tertiary qualifications and to speak a functional level of English.

While Labor look to restrict Work and Holiday visas, the Government continues to support the Working Holiday Maker program and the significant benefits the program provides to regional Australia and the economy as a whole.

Australia’s Working Holiday Maker program currently has arrangements in place with 42 countries, across the globe.

The number of places available to Spanish, Israeli and Peruvian nationals under the program have all recently increased. For Spain an increase from 1,500 to 3,400 places (28 December 2018), for Israel an increase from 500 to 2,500 places (28 December 2018), and for Peru an increase from 100 to 1,500 places (2 January 2019).


Disclaimer: the above is a mere extract of a webpage. The views there expressed might not reflect the views of the Department, the AAT or the courts. The law or policies might have changed between the writing and reading of this article. The author of this article and Migration Law Updates disclaim any liability for any action (or omission) on their part based on any information provided (or not provided) in this article and are under no obligation to keep the general public nor practitioners informed about the matters discussed in this article or any other matters, or any future changes to any of those matters. It is the responsibility of each practitioner to obtain access to primary sources of law and policy by themselves and to carry out their own research and come to their own conclusions on legislation, case law, policies and more. This article is not intended for the general public.


Sergio Zanotti Stagliorio is a Registered Migration Agent (MARN 1461003). He is the owner of Target Migration in Sydney. He can be reached at sergio@targetmigration.com.au

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