Australia Hits Pause on Work and Holiday Visas for 24 Countries
Australia has paused new first Work and Holiday visa applications for passport holders from 24 countries under subclass 462. The measure affects people who have not yet lodged an application, while the Department of Home Affairs says country caps can be paused to manage demand, spread applications across the programme year or support broader migration settings. A paused cap may reopen later in the same programme year.
Australia’s Work and Holiday Visa Pause
- Visa: First Work and Holiday visa, subclass 462
- Status: New applications paused for 24 countries
- Affected: Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Chile, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand and Uruguay
- Still open: San Marino and Türkiye
- Ballot: China, India and Vietnam
- Indonesia: Moving to a ballot later in 2026
- Reopening date: Not announced
Existing applications will still be processed, but Home Affairs says high demand is slowing decisions. Australia has two working holiday visa streams: subclass 417 and subclass 462. The 417 visa is uncapped and available to citizens of 19 partner countries, while the 462 visa covers a different group and often has annual limits or ballots. The current pause only affects new first-time subclass 462 applications.
People who already hold a valid visa, or can apply through an unaffected stream, can still combine travel with short-term work across Australia. The programme can support longer stays beyond Sydney and Melbourne, including time in Queensland, Western Australia and regional areas where seasonal jobs are common. It remains particularly useful for travellers planning to fund part of their trip through hospitality, tourism or agricultural work.
Applicants from paused countries should avoid making non-refundable travel plans while they wait. Home Affairs has not published a reopening date and advises applicants to monitor its country-cap page and ImmiAccount for updates. A pause is not the same as a closure, so applications may reopen later, but there is no guarantee of when that will happen or how quickly a new application will then be processed.
