My Working Holiday Visa Is Ending — What Do I Do Next?

You came to Australia for a working holiday.

A year sounded like ages.

Then suddenly you've got a job, a solid group of mates, a favourite local, way too much stuff to fit back into your suitcase — and absolutely no desire to get on that flight home.

There's just one problem.

Your Working Holiday Visa is coming to an end.

So… what happens now?

First things first: can you extend your Working Holiday Visa?

You'll hear people talk about “extending” their Working Holiday Visa, but technically, that's not quite how it works.

Australia's Working Holiday Maker program includes the Working Holiday visa (subclass 417) and the Work and Holiday visa (subclass 462).

Depending on factors including your passport, age and circumstances, you may be able to apply for a second or third Working Holiday Maker visa.

The rules aren't identical for everyone either. For example, UK passport holders currently have different arrangements around specified work when applying for second and third Working Holiday visas.

So before taking advice from someone who did their farm work in 2019, check the current rules that apply to your nationality and circumstances.

What if another Working Holiday Visa isn't an option?

This is normally where the Google spiral begins.

“How can I stay in Australia after my Working Holiday Visa?”

Suddenly you've discovered skilled migration, employer sponsorship, partner visas, points, occupation lists, skills assessments and approximately 47 browser tabs.

Here's the important bit:

There isn't one universal “visa after a Working Holiday Visa.”

Australia has a range of visa pathways designed for different purposes, and whether any of them are relevant depends entirely on the individual.

Your occupation, qualifications, employment, relationship, work experience and future plans could all potentially matter depending on what you're looking at.

This is where getting actual migration advice about your circumstances — rather than trying to piece together an immigration strategy from TikTok and Reddit — becomes pretty important.

What if your employer wants you to stay?

This is a situation plenty of working holiday makers find themselves in.

You arrived looking for a job to fund the trip.

Six months later, your boss doesn't want you to leave.

An employer wanting to keep you is obviously a great position to be in, but a job offer doesn't automatically give you another visa.

Employer-sponsored visas exist in Australia, but there are requirements for the employer, the position and the person being sponsored.

If your employer is genuinely interested in keeping you in Australia, it's worth exploring the situation properly and early.

We'll dive much further into this in another Drift Journal.

Ben's POV: When a working holiday becomes your actual life

Our mate Ben came over from England on a Working Holiday Visa expecting exactly what most people expect — work for a bit, travel around, have a good time and eventually head home.

Except Australia started feeling less like somewhere he was visiting and more like somewhere he could actually see himself living.

He'd built friendships, found his routine and created a life that wasn't quite so easy to pack back into a suitcase.

As the end of his Working Holiday Visa got closer, the question wasn't really “Did I have a good time in Australia?”

That was obvious.

It became:

“Am I actually ready to leave?”

And that's probably the part of the Working Holiday experience nobody talks about enough.

You arrive thinking about beaches, road trips and earning enough money to keep travelling.

You don't necessarily think about what happens if, somewhere along the way, Australia becomes home.

Start thinking about it before the panic sets in

If you're already pretty sure you want to stay in Australia, don't wait until the final few weeks of your visa to start asking questions.

Know when your current visa expires.

Understand the conditions attached to it.

Use official sources to research what exists.

And if you're considering staying longer, get advice about your specific circumstances early enough to actually understand your position.

You don't need to know exactly where you'll be living five years from now.

You just don't want to be making major decisions because your visa expires next Tuesday.

Maybe you're not finished yet

A Working Holiday Visa might have been your ticket into Australia.

It doesn't necessarily tell you what happens afterwards.

For some people, Australia is an incredible year or two before the next adventure.

For others, somewhere between the first terrible attempt at surfing and becoming weirdly opinionated about which Australian supermarket is better, something changes.

You start imagining staying.

If that's you, Drift can help you understand where to start and connect you with a registered migration professional if you need advice about your individual circumstances.

Because the end of your Working Holiday Visa might mean it's time to go home.

Or it might just mean it's time to figure out what comes next.

This article provides general information only and does not constitute migration advice. Australian visa requirements and conditions depend on individual circumstances and can change. For advice about your specific situation, speak with a registered migration agent or Australian legal practitioner.