Working Holiday Visa growth stalls with fee increases

DIAC has released their end of program year report on Working Holiday and Work and Holiday visas for the 2012/2013 Program Year. On the surface, the data seems to demonstrate that it was a good year for growth, with a record number of visas being granted, however there are some indicators that the growth may not continue.

Over the July 2012 to June 2013 period:
- first Working Holiday (subclass 417) visa grants increased 14% to 210 369;
- second Working Holiday (subclass 417) visa grants increased 27% to 38 862;
- Work and Holiday (subclass 462) visa grants increased 8 per cent to 9 017;
- the strongest % growth came from Italy, with +66% and 6,373 more working holiday makers;
- the strongest growth in numbers of visas granted came from Taiwan, with 60% growth pushing it to #2 after the UK and growth of 13,368 more working holiday makers.

Click here to view the full DIAC Report.

Almost all the growth in first (new) visas was in the first six month period ending in December. From January to June the growth slowed significantly.

January was when the WH visa fee increased from $280AUD to $365AUD. In late 2012 the backpacker sector predicted the fee hike would be a problem and in the absence of any other reasons it seems likely the increased visa fee has acted as a deterrent. A further fee increase of $55 from 1 September 2013 has now brought the visa fee up to $420. 

Anecdotally, there are reports that now the working holiday visa is so much more expensive than the tourist visa ($130 and no increase) that a lot of people view it primarily as an investment to get work rights and on arrival get and stay in work at the expense of more time spent studying and travelling. This is a big departure from the original concept of the visa as a cultural exchange and with work incidental to the holiday.